UC-NRLF 


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REESE   LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


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OCT   S8  1893 


SPECIAL  METHOD 


FOB 


HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE 


THE  COMMON  SCHOOLS. 


BY  CHARLES  A.  MCMURRY,  PH.D. 


PUBLIC-SCHOOL  PUBLISHING  Co. 
BLOOMINGTON,  ILL. 


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Copyright,  1893. 
BY  C.  A.  McMuRRY,  NORMAL,  ILL. 


Press  of 

Pantograph  Printing  and  Stationery  Co., 

Bloomington,  III. 


PREFACE. 


This  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  small  books  treating 
of  special  method  in  the  common  school  studies.  The 
plan  is  to  outline  courses  for  each  important  branch  of 
school  work,  to  discuss  the  value  of  the  materials,  and 
to  explain  the  method  of  treatment  in  classes.  The 
relation  of  studies  to  each  other  will  receive  much  in- 
cidental notice. 

The  Special  Method  is  designed  to  carry  forward 
to  a  fuller  application,  and  in  definite  detail,  the  prin- 
ciples discussed  in  the  General  Metftod. 

A  series  of  books  is  being  prepared  in  which  the 

actual  materials  to  be  handled  in  history  and  litera- 

» 
ture,  as  here  discussed,  will  be  presented  in  the  simple 

form  required  in  schools.  Our  plan,  therefore,  is  to 
advance  from  the  most  general  statement  of  principles 
to  the  most  specific  application  to  particular  studies. 

Normal,  Illinois,  September  11,  1893. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


HlSTOEY   AND    LITERATURE,       . 

FAIRY  TALES,      ...... 

ROBINSON  CRUSOE,   .        ...... 

THE  MYTHICAL  STORIES,     ..... 

PIONEER  HISTORY  STORIES,     ..... 

HISTORY  IN  THE  SIXTH  GRADE, 

HISTORY  IN  THE  SEVENTH  GRADE,        .  '•''-'  -»i 

EIGHTH  GRADE,     ........ 


HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE. 


The  formative  influence  of  classic  literature  and 
good  reading  upon  young  people  is  generally  acknowl- 
edged. With  many  boys  and  girls  who  show  a  taste 
for  it,  the  reading  of  choice  books  is  held  to  be  a  sign 
of  intellectual  and  moral  progress.  Such  a  taste  once 
formed,  is  regarded  us  a  strong  protection  and  aid  in 
the  coming  work  of  education.  But  where  does  this 
taste  for  literature  properly  begin,  and  how  may  it  be 
fostered  among  average  boys  and  girls?  The  schools 
of  today  are  not  in  the  habit  of  seriously  meeting  this 
problem  till  children  are  verging  into  manhood  and 
womanhood,  toward  the  close  of  the  gra'mmar  grades. 
What  of  the  years  from  six  to  fourteen,  devoted  es- 
pecially to  the  common  school,  in  which  the  great  ma- 
jority of  children  receive  their  whole  school  training? 
If  there  are  choice  stories,  epics,  and  histories  which 
have  power  to  impress  youthful  thought,  fancy,  and 
feeling,  let  the  early  years  reap  the  full  benefit.  Even 
those  first  entering  the  school  should  find  something 
fair  and  attractive  in  the  stories  presented  to  them  in 
the  early  months.  In  each  grade  the  children  should 
be  led  through  some  of  the  garden  plots  of  literature, 
leaving  rich  memories  behind  and  gaining  a  culture 
that  will  abide  through  life. 

Keeping  steadily  in  view  the  leading  purpose  to 


6  Special  Method. 

lift  and  strengthen  moral  character  by  means  of  ma- 
terials of  instruction  suited  to  the  needs  of  children, 
lesser  advantages  will  follow.  The  highest  aim  in  ed- 
ucation, if  wisely  pursued,  will  yield  much  fruitage  to 
the  secondary  aims.  Those  stories  and  books  which 
reveal  the  best  typical  men  and  women  in  action,  fur- 
nish also  the  most  interesting  and  instructive  lessons 
in  other  respects.  The  poet  instinctively  seizes  what 
is  beautiful  and  good  for  the  highest  manifestation  of 
his  art.  If  ignoble  characters  appear,  it  is  as  a  foil  to 
choicer  spirits.  To  banish  formalism  from  our  schools 
we  need  the  presence  of  interesting  and  stimulating 
characters,  not  simply  as  embodied  in  the  teachers, 
but  also  in  the  history  and  literature  studied.  Im- 
portant as  formal  drill  is,  no  teacher  can  find  in  this 
his  best  expression  and  influence.  Sympathy  with  hu- 
man life  and  struggle  is  the  most  inspiriting  force  in 
schools  as  well  as  outside  of  them.  The  interest 
awakened  is  a  fair  gauge  of  the  value  of  the  work 
done  in  a  sghool,  and  for  native  interest  there  is  noth- 
ing that  can  surpass  the  best  literature.  To  put  this 
literature  into  the  hands  of  teachers  and  to  cause  them 
to  feel  responsible  for  the  transmission  of  its  best  treas- 
ures to  children,  is  a  thing  to  lend  priestly  dignity  to 
our  calling. 

Of  necessity,  the  school  must  be  the  first  to  piomvr 
the  children  into  these  regions  of  delight.  Not  many 
homes  are  capable  of  giving  them  a  fit  entrance. 
There  should  be  no  jealousy  between  school  and  home 
at  this  juncture,  but  rather .  mutual  support.  The 


History  and  Literature.  1 

school  knows  best  how  to  open  the  doors  and  lead  the 
children  in;  or  at  least  it  should  be  the  pride  of 
teachers  to  fit  themselves  for  this  duty.  The  school 
has  more  time  and  equipment  for  this  work  than  the 
home,  although  it  can  only  imitate  the  sympathetic 
qualities  of  the  home.  At  the  best,  teachers  can  only 
make  a  beginning,  cultivate  a  taste  and  habit,  open  the 
eyes  and  sympathies  of  children  for  what  is  beautiful 
and  good,  hoping  that  home,  friends,  libraries,  and 
life's  opportunities  will  do  the  rest.  What  books  to 
select,  and  how  to  best  present  the  stories  to  children, 
can  be  better  judged  by  thoughtful  educators  than  by 
parents.  There  is  a  vast  amount  of  sham  in  literature, 
and  pupils  and  parents,  to  a  large  extent,  are  not  good 
judges  of  excellence.  Few  teachers,  indeed,  would  be 
prepared  to  make  a  good  selection  of  our  best  literary 
materials  for  children.  But  this  is  one  problem,  and 
considering  the  great  interests  at  stake,  the  millions 
of  boys  and  girls  growing  up  to  life's  duties  among  us, 
it  behooves  us  to  spare  neither  labor  nor  pains  to  sift 
out  the  best  for  each  school  year. 

American  history  and  literature  supply  some 
choice  materials,  while  England,  Germany,  Greece, 
and  other  countries  furnish  myths  and  epical  stories  of 
great  culture  value.  We  glean  from  broad  literary 
fields  and  from  the  history  of  many  lands.  It  may 
surprise  us  also  to  find  that  it  is  the  profound  literary 
artists  and  critics  that  can  help  us  most  in  selecting 
choice  products  for  children.  At  this  point  the  uni- 
versity and  the  first  primary  school  are  drawn  into  the 


8  Special  Method. 

closest  relation.  Men  of  profound  learning  like  the 
brothers  Grimm,  Herder,  and  Goethe,  have  opened  up 
to  the  world  the  treasures  of  literature  for  children. 
It  can  not  but  inspire  and  ennoble  the  primary  teacher 
to  know  that  she  is  cultivating  her  own  mind  on  some 
of  the  best  literary  masterpieces,  and  while  teaching 
children  is  only  making  use  of  what  the  best  poetic 
minds  have  prepared. 

Our  purpose  is  to  discuss  a  few  of  those  literary 
masterpieces  which  may  be  made  use  of  in  schools,  be- 
ginning with  the  first  primary  grade. 


Fairy   Tales. 


FAIRY  TALES. 


Young  children,  as  we  all  know,  are  delighted 
with  stories,  and  in  the  first  grade  they  are  still  in 
this  story-loving  period.  A  good  story  is  the  best 
medium  through  which  to  convey  ideas  and  also  to  ap- 
proach the  difficulties  of  learning  to  read.  Such  a 
story,  Wilmann  says,  is  a  pedagogical  treasure.  By 
many  thinkers  and  primary  teachers  the  fairy  stories 
have  been  adopted  as  best  suited  to  the  wants  of  the 
littie  folk  just  emerging  from  the  home.  A  series  of 
fairy  tales  was  selected  by  Ziller,  one  of  the  leading 
Herbartians,  as  a  center  for  the  school  work  of  the 
first  year.  These  stories  have  long  held  a  large  place 
in  the  home  culture  of  children,  especially  of  the  more 
cultivated  class.  Now  it  is  claimed  that  what  is  good 
for  the  few  whose  parents  are  cultured  and  sympa- 
thetic, may  be  good  enough  for  the  children  of  the 
common  people  and  of  the  poor.  Moreover,  stories 
that  have  made  the  fireside  more  joyous  and  blessed 
may  perchance  bring  vivacity  and  happiness  into 
school  rooms.,  The  home  and  the  school  are  coming 
closer  together.  It  is  even  said  that  well-trained, 
sympathetic  primary  teachers  may  better  tell  and  im- 
press these  stories  than  over- worked  mothers  and  busy 


10  Special  Method. 

fathers.  If  these  literary  treasures  are  left  for  the 
homes  to  discover  and  use,  the  majority  of  children 
will  know  little  or  nothing  of  them.  Some  schools  in 
this  country  and  still  more  in  Germany  have  been 
using  them  in  the  first  grade  in  recent  years  with  a 
pleasing  effect. 

But  what  virtue  lies  concealed  in  these  fairy 
myths  for  the  children  of  our  practical  and  sensible 
age?  Why  should  we  draw  from  fountains  whose 
sources  are  back  in  the  prehistoric  and  even  barbarous 
past?  To  many  people  it  appears  as  a  curious  an- 
achronism to  nourish  little  children  in  the  last  decade 
of  this  century  upon  food  that  was  prepared  in  the 
tents  of  wandering  tribes  in  early  European  historv. 
What  are  the  merits  of  these  stories  for  children  just 
entering  upon  scholastic  pursuits?  They  are  known 
to  be  generally  attractive  to  children  of  this  age.  but 
many  sober-minded  people  distrust  them.  Are  they 
really  meat  and  drink  for  the  little  ones?  And  not 
only  so  but  the  choicest  meat  and  drink,  the  best  food 
upon  which  to  nourish  their  unfolding  minds? 

Fairy  tales  are  charged  with  misleading  children 
by  falsifying  the  truth  of  things.  And,  indeed,  they 
pay  little  heed  to  certain  natural  laws  that  practical 
people  of  good  sense  always  respect.  A  child,  how- 
ever, is  not  so  hum-drum  practical  as  these  serious 
truth-lovers.  A  little  girl  talks  to  her  doll  as  if  it  had 
real  ears.  She  and  her  little  brother  make  tea-nips 
and  saucers  out  of  acorns  with  no  apparent  compunc- 
tions of  conscience.  They  follow  Cinderella  to  the 


Fairy   Tales.  11 

ball  in  a  pumpkin  chariot,  transformed  by  magic  wand, 
with  even  greater  interest  than  we  read  of  a  presiden- 
tial ball.  A  child  may  turn  the  common  laws  of  phys- 
ical nature  inside  out  and  not  be  a  whit  the  worse  for 
it.  Its  imagination  can  people  a  pea  pod  with  little 
heroes  aching  for  a  chance  in  the  big  world,  or  it  can 
put  tender  personality  into  the  trunk  and  branches  of 
the  little  pine  tree  in  the  forest.  There  are  no  space 
limits  that  a  child's  fancy  will  not  spring  over  in  a 
twinkling.  It  can  ride  from  star  to  star  on  a  broom- 
stick, or  glide  over  peaceful  waters  in  a  fairy  boat 
drawn  by  graceful  swans.  Without  suggestion  from 
mother  or  teacher,  they  put  life  and  personality  into 
their  playthings.  Their  spontaneous  delights  are  in 
this  playful  exercise  of  the  fancy,  in  masquerading 
under  the  guise  of  a  soldier,  bear,  horse,  or  bird.  The 
fairy  tale  is  the  poetry  of  children's  inner  impulse  and 
feeling;  their  sparkling  eyes  and  absorbed  interest 
show  how  fitting  is  the  contact  between  these  child- 
like creations  of  the  poet  and  their  own  budding 
thoughts. 

In  discussing  the  qualities  requisite  in  a  fairy 
story  to  make  it  a  pedagogical  treasure,  Wilmann 
says:  "  When  it  is  laid  down  as  a  first  and  indispensa- 
ble requirement  that  a  story  be  genuinely  childlike, 
the  demand  sounds  less  rigorous  than  it  really  is.  It 
is  easier  to  feel  than  to  describe  the  qualities  which 
lend  to  a  story  the  true  childlike  spirit.  It  is  not 
simplicity  alone.  A  simple  story  that  can  be  un- 
derstood by  a  child  is  not  on  that  account  childlike. 


12  Special  Method. 

The  simplicity  must  be  the  ingenuousness  of  the  child. 
Close  to  this  lies  the  abyss  of  silliness  into  which  so 
many  children's  stories  tumble.  A  simple  story  may 
be  manufactured,  but  the  quality  of  true  simplicity 
will  not  be  breathed  into  it  unless  one  can  draw  from 
the  deeper  springs  of  poetic  invention.  It  is  not 
enough  that  the  externals  of  the  story,  such  as  situa- 
tion and  action,  have  this  character,  but  the  sensibili- 
ties and  motives  of  the  actors  must  be  ingenuous  and 
childlike;  they  should  reflect  the  child's  own  feeling, 
wish,  and  effort.  But  it  is  not  necessary  on  this  ac- 
count that  the  persons  of  the  story  "be  children.  In- 
deed the  king,  prince,  and  princess,  if  they  only 
speak  and  act  like  children,  are  much  nearer  the 
child's  comprehension  than  any  of  the  children  pa- 
raded in  a  manufactured  story,  designed  for  the  'in- 
dustrious youth.'  vFor  just  as  real  poetry  so  the  real 
child's  story  lies  beyond  reality  in  the  field  of  fancy. 
With  all  its  plainness  of  thought  and  action,  the  gen- 
uine child's  story  knows  how  to  take  hold  of  the 
child's  fancy  and  set  its  wings  in  motion.  And  what 
a  meaning  has  fancy  for  the  soul  life  of  the  child 
as  compared  with  that  of  the  adult.  For  us  the  activ- 
ity of  fancy  only  sketches  arabesques,  as  it  were, 
around  the  "sharply  defined  pictures  of  reality.  Thr 
child  thinks  and  lives  in  such  arabesques,  and  it  is 
only  gradually  that  increasing  experience  writes 
among  these  arabesques  the  firmer  outlines  of  things. 
The  child's  thoughts  float  about  playfully  and  unstead- 
ily, but  the  fairy  tale  is  even  lighter-winged  than 


Fairy  Tales.  13 

they.  It  overtakes  these  fleeting  summer  birds  and 
wafts  them  together  without  brushing  the  dust  from 
their  wings. 

;tBut  fostering  the  activity  of  fancy  in  children 
is  a  means,  not  an  end.  It  is  necessary  to  enter  the 
field  of  fancy  because  the  way  to  the  child's  heart 
leads  through  the  fancy.  The  effect  upon  the  heart  of 
the  child  is  the  second  mark  and  proof  of  the  genuine 
child's  story.  We  are  not  advocates  of  the  so-called 
moral  stories  which  are  so  short-winded  as  to  stop  fre- 
quently and  rest  upon  some  moral  commonplace. 
Platitudes  and  moral  maxims  are  not  designed  to  de- 
velop a  moral  taste  in  the  minds  of  young  children, 
for  they  appeal  to  the  understanding  and  will  of  the 
pupil  and  presuppose  what  must  be  first  built  up  and 
established.  True  moral  training  is  rather  calculated 
to  waken  in  the  child  judgments  of  right  and  wrong, 
of  good  and  evil  (on  simple  illustrative  examples). 
Not  the  impression  left  by  a  moralizing  discourse  is 
the  germ  of  a  love  for  the  good  and  right,  but  rather 
the  child's  judgment,  springing  from  its  own  convic- 
tion. '  That  was  good. '  '  What  a  mean  thing! ' 

11  Those  narratives  have  a  moral  force  which  in- 
troduce persons  and  acts  that  are  simple  and  trans- 
parent enough  to  let  the  moral  light  shine  through, 
that  possess  sufficient  life  to  lend  warmth  and  vigor 
to  moral  judgments.  No  attempt  to  cover  up  or  pass 
over  what  is  bad,  nor  to  paint  it  in  extravagant  colors. 
For  the  bad  develops  the  judgment  no  less  than  the 
good.  It  remains  only  to  have  a  care  that  a  child's 


14  Special  Method. 

interest  inclines  toward  the  good,   the  just,   and  the 
right." 

Wilmann  summarizes  the  essentials  of  a  good 
story  and  then  discusses  the  fairy  tales  as  follows: 

"There  are  then  five  requirements  to  be  made  of  a 
real  child's  story:  Let  it  be  truly  childlike,  that  is, 
both  simple  and  full  of  fancy;  let  it  form  morals  in  the 
sense  that  it  introduces  persons  and  matters,  which, 
while  simple  and  lively,  call  out  a  moral  judgment  of 
approval  or  disapproval;  let  it  be  instructive  and  lead 
to  thoughtful  discussions  of  society  and  nature;  let  it 
be  of  permanent  value,  inviting  perpetually  to  a  re- 
perusal;  let  it  be  a  connected  whole  so  as  to  work  a 
deeper  influence  and  become  the  source  of  a  many- 
sided  interest. 

"The  child's  story  which,  on  the  basis  of  the  afore" 
named  principles,  can  be  made  the  starting  point  for 
all  others,  is  Grimm's  fairy  tale  of  folk-lore.  We  are 
now  called  upon  to  show  that  the  folk-lore  fairy  tale 
answers  to  the  foregoing  requirements,  and  in  this  we 
shall  see  many  a  ray  of  light  cast  back  upon  these  re- 
quirements themselves. 

"Is  the  German  fairy  tale  childlike  ?  full  of  sim- 
plicity as  well  as  of  fancy  ?  A  deeply  poetic  saying  of 
Jacob  Grimm  may  teach  us  the  answer.  'There  runs 
through  these  poetic  fairy  tales  the  same  deep  vein  of 
purity  by  reason  of  which  children  seem  to  us  so  won- 
derful and  blessed.  They  have,  as  it  were,  the  same 
pale-blue,  clear,  and  lustrous  eyes  which  can  grow  no 
more  although  the  other  members  are  still  delicate  and 


Fairy   Tales.  15 

weak  and  unserviceable  to  the  uses  of  earth.'  Klaiber 
quotes  this  passage  in  his  '  Das  Marchen  und  die  Kind- 
liche  Phantasie,'  and  says  with  truth  and  beauty, 
'Yes;  when  we  look  into  the  trusting  eyes  of  a  child, 
in  which  none  of  the  world's  deceit  is  to  be  read  as  yet, 
when  we  see  how  these  eyes  brighten  and  gleam  at  a 
beautiful  fairy  tale,  as  if  they  were  looking  out  into  a 
great,  wide,  beautiful  wonder- world,  then  we  feel  some- 
thing of  the  deep  connection  of  the  fairy  story  with  the 
childish  soul.'  We  will  bring  forward  one  more  pas- 
sage from  a  little  treatise,  showing  depth  and  warmth 
of  feeling,  which  stealthily  takes  away  from  the  doubters 
their  scruples  about  the  justification  of  the  fairy  tale. 
'It  is  strange  how  well  the  fairy  tale  and  the  child's 
soul  mutually  understand  each  other.  It  is  as  if  they 
had  been  together  from  the  very  beginning  and  had 
grown  up  together.  As  a  rule  the  child  only  deals 
with  that  part  of  real  life  which  concerns  itself  and 
children  of  its  age.  Whatever  lies  beyond  this  is  dis- 
tant, strange,  unintelligible.  Under  the  leading  of 
the  fairy  tale,  however,  it  permits  itself  to  be  borne 
over  hill  and  valley,  over  land  and  sea,  through  sun 
and  moon  and  stars  even  to  the  end  of  the  world,  and 
everything  is  so  near,  so  familiar,  so  close  to  its  reach, 
as  if  it  had  been  everywhere  before,  just  as  if  obscure 
pictures  within  had  all  at  once  become  wonderfully 
distinct.  And  the  fairies  all,  and  the  king's  sons,  and 
the  other  distinguished  personages,  whom  it  learns  to 
know  through  the  fairy  tale,  they  are  as  natural  and 
intelligible  as  if  he  had  moved  his  life  long  in  the  high- 


16  Special  Method. 

est  circles,  and  had  had  princes  and  princesses  for  his 
daily  playmates.  In  a  word,  the  world  of  the  fairy  tale 
is  the  child's  world,  for  it  is  the  world  of  fancy.' ' 

"  For  this  reason  children  live  and  move  in  fairy- 
land, whether  the  story  be  told  by  the  mother  or  by  the 
teacher  in  the  primary  school.  What  attention  as  the 
story  proceeds  !  What  anxiousness  when  any  danger 
threatens  the  hero,  be  he  king's  son  or  a  wheat-straw  ! 
What  grief,  even  to  tears,  when  a  wrong  is  practiced 
upon  some  innocent  creature  !  And  far  from  it  that 
the  joy  in  the  fairy  tale  decrease  when  it  is  told  or  dis- 
cussed over  again.  Then  comes  the  pleasure  of  rep- 
resentation— bringing  the  story  upon  the  stage. 
Though  a  child  has  but  to  represent  a  flower  in  the 
meadow,  the  little  face  is  transfigured  with  the  high- 
est joy. 

"But  the  childish  joy  of  fairy  tales  passes  away; 
not  so  the  inner  experiences  which  it  has  brought  with 
it.  I  am  not  affirming  too  much  when  I  say  that  lu> 
who,  as  a  child,  has  never  listened  with  joy  to  the 
murmuring  and  rustling  of  the  fresh  fountain  of  fairy- 
land, will  have  no  ear  and  no  understanding  for  many 
a  deep  stream  of  German  poetry.  It  is,  after  all,  the 
modest  fountain  of  fairy  song  which,  flowing  and 
uniting  with  the  now  noisy,  now  soft  and  gently  flow- 
ing, current  of  folk  song  and  with  the  deep  and  earnest 
stream  of  tradition,  which  has  poured  such  a  refresh- 
ing current  over  German  poetry,  out  of  which  our 
most  excellent  Uhland  has  drawn  so  many  a  heart- 
strengthening  draft. 


Fairy  Tales.  17 

"The  spirit  of  the  people  finds  expression  in  fairy 
tale  as  in  tradition  and  song,  and  if  we  were  only 
working  to  lift  and  strengthen  the  national  impulse,  a 
moral  educative  instruction  would  have  to  turn  again 
and  again  to  these  creations  of  the  people.  What  was 
asserted  as  a  general  truth  in  regard  to  classical  pro- 
ducts, that  they  are  a  bond  between  large  and  small, 
old  and  young,  is  true  of  national  stories  and  songs 
more  than  of  anything  else.  They  are  at  once  a  bond 
between  the  different  classes,  a  national  treasure, 
which  belongs  alike  to  rich  and  poor,  high  and  low. 
The  common  school  then  has  the  least  right  of  all  to 
put  the  fairy  tale  aside,  now  that  few  women  versed  in 
fairy  lore,  such  as  those  to  whom  Grimm  listened,  are 
left. 

"But  does  the  fairy  tale  come  of  noble  blood? 
Does  it  possess  what  we  called  in  the  case  of  classics, 
an  old  title  of  nobility?  If  we  keep  to  this  figure  of 
speech,  we  shall  find  that  the  fairy  tale  is  not  only 
noble,  but  a  very  royal  child  among  stories.  It  has 
ruled  from  olden  times,  far  and  wide,  over  many  a 
land.  Hundreds  of  years  gone,  Grimm's  fairy  stories 
lived  in  the  people's  heart,  and  not  in  Germany  alone. 
If  our  little  ones  listen  intent  to  Aschenputtel,  French 
children  delighted  in  Cindrillon,  the  Italian  in  Cener- 
entola,  the  Polish  in  Kopcinszic.  The  fact  that  me- 
diaeval story  books  contain  Grimm's  tales  is  not  re- 
markable, when  we  reflect  that  traits  and  character- 
istics of  the  fairy  tale  reach  back  beyond  the  Christian 
period;  that  Fra4  -Holle  is  HulcUi,  or  Frigg,  the  heathen 

'V 


18  Special  Method. 

goddess;  that  '  Wishing-cap,'  'Little  Lame-leg,'  and 
'Table  Cover  Thyself,'  etc.,  are  made  up  out  of  the 
attributes  of  German  gods.  Finally,  such  things  as 
'The  Sleeping  Beauty,'  which  is  the  earth  in  winter 
sleep,  that  the  prince  of  summer  wakes  with  kisses  in 
spring  time,  point  back  to  the  period  of  primitive  Indo- 
German  myth. 

"But  in  addition  to  the  requirement  of  classical 
nobility  has  the  fairy  story  also  the  moral  tone  which 
we  required  of  the  genuine  child's  story?  Does  the 
fairy  story  make  for  morals?  To  be  sure  it  introduces 
to  an  ideal  realm  of  simple  moral  relations.  The  good 
and  bad  are  sharply  separated.  The  wrong  holds  for 
a  time  its  supremacy,  but  the  final  victory  is  with  the 
good.  And  with  what  vigor  the  judgment  of  good  and 
evil,  of  right  and  wrong,  is  produced.  We  meet  touch- 
ing pictures,  especially  of  good-will,  of  faithfulness, 
characteristic  and  full  of  life.  Think  only  of  the 
typical  interchange  of  words  between  Lrn<-h<Mi  and 
Fundevogel.  Said  Lenchen:  'Leave  me  not  and  I 
will  never  leave  thee. '  Said  Fundevogel:  '  Now  and 
nevermore.'  We  are  reminded  of  the  bible  words  of 
the  faithful  Ruth,  'Whither  thou  goest  I  will  go; 
where  thou  lodgest  I  will  lodge;  where  thou  diest  will 
I  die  and  there  will  I  be  buried.' 

"Important  for  the  life  of  children  is  the  rigor 
with  which  the  fairy  tale  punishes  disobedience  and 
falsehood.  Think  of  the  suggestive  legendary  story 
of  the  child  which  was  visited  again  and  again  with 
misfortune  because  of  its  obstinacy,  till  its  final  - 


Fairy   Tales.  19 

fession  of  guilt  brings  full  pardon.  It  is  everywhere 
a  Christian  thread  which  runs  through  so  many  fairy 
stories.  It  is  love  for  the  rejected,  oppressed,  and 
abandoned.  Whatever  is  loaded  with  burdens  and 
trouble  receives  the  palm,  and  the  first  become  the 
last. 

"  The  fairy  story  fulfills  the  first  three  require- 
ments for  a  true  child's  story.  It  is  childlike,  of  last- 
ing value,  and  fosters  moral  ideas.  As  to  unity  it  will 
suffice  for  children  of  six  years  (for  this  is,  in  our  opin- 
ion, the  age  at  which  it  exerts  its  moral  force)  that  the 
stories  be  told  in  the  same  spirit,  although  they  do  not 
form  one  connected  narrative.  If  a  good  selection  of 
fairy  tales  according  to  their  inner  connection  is  made, 
so  that  frequent  references  and  connections  can  be 
found,  the  requirement  of  unity  will  be  satisfied. 
The  fairy  tale  seems  to  satisfy  least  of  all  the  demand 
that  the  true  child's  story  must  be  instructive,  and 
serve  as  a  starting  point  for  interesting  practical  dis- 
cussion. The  fairy  story  seems  too  airy  and  dreamy 
for  this,  and  it  might  appear  pedantry  to  load  it  with 
instruction.  But  one  will  not  be  guilty  of  this  mis- 
take if  one  simply  follows  up  the  ideas  which  the  story 
suggests.  When  the  story  of  a  chicken,  a  fox,  or  a 
swan,  is  told  it  is  fully  in  harmony  with  the  childish 
thought  to  inquire  into  the  habits  of  these  animals. 
When  the  king  is  mentioned  it  is  natural  to  say  that 
we  have  a  king,  where  he  lives,  etc.  Just  because  the 
fairy  tale  sinks  deep  and  holds  a  firm  and  undivided 
attention,  it  is  possible  to  direct  the  suggested 


20  Special  Method. 

thoughts  hither  or  thither  without  losing  the  pleasure 
they  create.  If  one  keeps  this  aim  in  mind,  instruct- 
ive material  is  abundant.  The  fairy  tale  introduces 
various  employments  and  callings,  from  the  king  to 
the  farmer,  tailor,  and  shoemaker.  Many  passages  in 
life  such  as  betrothal,  marriage,  and  burial,  are  pre- 
sented. Labors,  in  the  house,  yard,  and  field,  and 
numerous  animals,  plants,  and  inanimate  things  are 
touched  upon.  For  the  observation  of  animals  and 
for  the  relation  between  them  and  children,  it  is  for- 
tunate that  the  fairy  tale  presents  them  as  talking 
and  feeling.  Thereby  the  interest  in  real  animals  is 
increased  and  heartlessness  banished.  How  could  a 
child  put  to  the  torture  an  animal  which  is  an  old 
friend  in  fairy  story? 

"I  need  only  suggest  in  this  place  how  the  fairy 
story  furnishes  material  for  exercises  in  oral  language, 
for  the  division  of  words  into  syllables  and  letters,  and 
how  the  beginnings  of  writing,  drawing,  number,  and 
manual  exercises  may  be  drawn  from  the  same  souivc. 

"From  the  suggestions  just  made  the  following 
conclusion  at  least,  may  be  reasonably  drawn.  A 
sufficient  counterpoise  to  the  fantastical  nature  of  the 
fairy  tale  can  be  given  in  a  manner,  simple  and  child- 
like, if  the  objects  and  relations  involved  in  the  nar- 
ratives, are  brought  clearly  before  the  senses  and  dis- 
cussed so  that  instruction  about  common  objects  and 
home  surroundings  is  begun."  —  IF/7///"////  /'</></. 
Vortraege. 

A  selection  of  fairy  stories  suited  to  our  first  grade 


Fairy    Tales.  21 

will  differ  from  a  similar  selection  for  foreign  schools. 
There  has  been  a  disposition  among  American  teachers 
for  several  years  to  appropriate  the  best  of  these 
stories  for  use  in  the  primary  schools.  In  different 
parts  of  the  country  skillful  primary  teachers  have 
been  experimenting  successfully  with  these  materials. 
In  Illinois  there  are  several  schools  in  which  both 
teachers  and  pupils  have  taken  great  delight  in  them. 
The  effort  has  been  made  more  particularly  with  first 
grade  children,  the  aim  of  teachers  being  to  lead  cap- 
tive the  spontaneous  interest  of  children  from  their 
first  entrance  upon  school  tasks.  Some  of  the  stories 
used  at  the  first  may  seem  light  and  farcical  but  exper- 
iments with  children  are  a  better  test  than  tha  pre- 
conceived notions  of  adults  who  may  have  forgotten 
their  early  childhood.  The  story  of  the  Four  Musi- 
cians, for  example,  is  a  favorite  with  the  children. 

The  children  have  no  knowledge  of  reading  or  per- 
haps of  letters.  The  story  is  told  with  spirit  by  the 
teacher,  no  book  being  used  in  the  class.  Question 
and  interchange  of  thought  between  pupil  and  teacher 
will  become  more  frequent  and  suggestive  as  the 
teacher  becomes  more  skilled  and  sympathetic  in  her 
treatment  of  the  story.  In  the  early  months  of  school 
life  the  aim  is  to  gain  the  attention  and  co-operation 
of  children  by  furnishing  abundant  food  for  thought. 
Children  are  required  or  at  least  encouraged  to  narrate 
the  story  or  a  part  of  it  in  the  class.  They  tell  it  at 
school  and  probably  at  home,  till  they  become  more 
and  more  absorbed  in  it.  Even  the  backward  or  timid 


22  Special  Method. 

child  gradually  acquires  courage  and  enjoys  narrating 
the  adventures  of  the  peas  in  the  pod  or  those  of  the 
animals  in  the  Four  Musicians. 

The  teacher  should  acquire  a  vivid  and  picturesque 
style  of  narrating,  persistently  weaving  into  the  story, 
by  query  and  suggestion,  the  previous  home  experi- 
ences of  the  children.  They  are  only  too  ready  to 
bring  out  these  treasures  at  the  call  of  the  teacher. 
Often  it  is  necessary  to  check  their  enthusiasm.  There 
is  a  need  not  simply  for  narrative  power,  but  for  quick 
insight  and  judgment  so  as  to  bring  their  thoughts 
into  close  relation  to  the  incidents.  Nowhere  in  all 
the  schools  is  there  such  a  call  for  close  and  motherly 
sympathy.  The  gentle  compulsion  of  kindness  is  re- 
quired to  inspire  the  timid  ones  with  confidence.  For 
some  of  them  are  slow  to  open  their  delicate  thought 
and  sensibility,  even  to  the  sunny  atmosphere  of  a 
pleasant  school. 

A  certain  amount  of  drill  in  reproduction  is  nec- 
essary, but  fortunately  the  stories  have  something 
that  bears  repetition  with  a  growing  interest.  Added 
to  this  is  the  desire  for  perfect  mastery  and  thus  the 
stories  become  more  dear  with  familiarity. 

Incidentally,  instructive  information  is  gathered 
concerning  animals  and  plants  that  are  actors  in  the 
scenes.  The  commonest  things  of  the  house,  field. 
and  garden  acquire  a  new  and  lasting  interest.  Some- 
times the  teacher  makes  provision  in  advance  of  the 
story  for  a  deeper  interest  in  the  plants  and  animals 
that  are  to  appear.  In  natural  science  lesson:-  she 


Fairy  Tales.  23 

may  take  occasion  to  examine  the  pea  blossom,  or  the 
animals  of  the  barn-yard,  or  the  squirrel  or  bird  in 
their  cages.  When  a  few  days  later  the  story  touches 
one  of  these  animals,  there  is  a  quick  response  from  the 
children.  This  relation  between  history  and  natural 
science  strengthens  both. 

Many  an  opportunity  is  given  for  the  pupils  to 
express  a  warm  sympathy  for  gentle  acts  of  kindness 
or  unselfishness.  The  happiness  that  even  a  simple 
flower  may  bring  to  a  home  is  a  contagious  example. 
Kindly  treatment  of  the  old  and  feeble,  and  sympathy 
for  the  innocent  and  helpless,  spring  into  the  child's 
own  thought.  The  fancy,  sympathy,  and  interest 
awakened  by  a  good  fairy  tale  make  it  a  vehicle  by 
which  consciously  and  unconsciously  a  good  many  ad- 
vantages are  borne  home  to  pupils. 

Among  other  things  it  opens  the  door  to  the 
reading  lesson;  that  is,  to  the  beginning  efforts  in  mas- 
tering and  using  the  symbols  of  written  language. 
The  same  story  which  all  have  learned  to  tell  they  are 
now  about  to  learn  to  read  from  the  board.  One  or  two 
sentences  are  taken  directly  from  the  lips  of  the  pupils 
as  they  recall  the  story,  and  the  work  of  mastering 
symbols  is  begun  at  once  with  zest.  First  is  the  clear 
statement  of  some  vivid  thought  by  a  child,  then  a 
quick  association  of  this  thought  with  its  written  sym- 
bols on  the  board.  There  is  no  readier  way  of  bring- 
ing thought  and  form  into  firm  connection,  that  is,  of 
learning  to  read.  Keep  the  child's  fresh  mental  judg- 
ment and  the  wprtJ^nLtetatom^nt  clearly  before  his 

fe**ir 

V     r^McoP.^ 


24  Special  Method. 

mind  till  the  two  are  wedded.     Let  the  thought  run 
back  and  forth  between  them  till  they  seem  as  one. 

After  fixing  two  or  three  sentences  on  the  board, 
attention  is  directed  more  closely  to  the  single  words, 
and  a  rapid  drill  upon  those  in  the  sentence  is  followed 
by  a  discovery  and  naming  of  them  in  miscellaneous 
order  in  a  column.  Afterwards  new  sentences  are 
formed  by  the  teacher  out  of  the  same  words,  written 
on  the  board,  and  read  by  the  children.  They  express 
different,  and  perhaps  opposite  forms  of  thought,  and 
should  exercise  the  child's  sense  and  judgment  as  well 
as  his  memory  of  words.  An  energetic,  lively,  and 
successful  drill  of  this  kind  upon  sentences  drawn  from 
stories,  has  been  so  often  witnessed,  that  its  e.\ 
lence  is  no  longer  a  matter  of  question.  Drill,  how- 
ever, and  repetition,  are  essential,  and  this  drill  is  a 
form  of  mental  activity  in  which  children  delight  if 
the  teacher's  manner  is  vigorous  and  pleasant. 

When  the  mastery  of  new  word-forms   as  wl 
is  fairly  complete,  the  analysis  may  go  a  step  further. 
Some  new  word  in  the  lesson  may  be  taken   and   sepa- 
rated into   its  phonic  elements,  as   the  word  /////.  and 
new  words  formed  by  dropping  a  letter  and  prefixing 
letters  or  syllables,    as  ill,    till,    until,   mill,   rill. 
The  power  to  construct  new  words  out  of  old    materi- 
als should  be  cultivated  all  along  the  process  of  learn- 
ing to  read. 

This  plan  of  work  for  learning  to  read  is  botl 
alytic  and  synthetic,  proceeding  from  senton<-< 
words,  and  from  words  to  sounds,  then  leading  bark 


Fairy   Tales.  25 

again  to  the  construction  of  words  and  sentences  from 
the  sounds  and  words  mastered.  The  sentence,  word, 
and  phonic  methods  of  learning  to  read,  are  all  util- 
ized in  this  general  plan.  It  makes  the  content  of  in- 
teresting thought  the  starting  point,  and  the  power  to 
recognize  and  express  this  thought  is  exercised  at  each 
step,  while  the  purely  formal  and  drill  work  of  learn- 
ing the  symbols  of  writing  and  reading,  is  so  coupled 
with  the  child's  own  interests  and  needs  as  to  become 
largely  incidental. 

Still  other  school  activities  of  children  stand  in 
close  relation  to  the  fairy  tales.  They  are  encouraged 
to  draw  the  objects  and  incidents  in  which  the  story 
abounds.  Though  rude  and  uncouth,  the  drawings 
still  often  surprise  us  with  their  truth  and  suggestive- 
ness.  These  sketches  reveal  the  content  of  a  child's 
mind  as  almost  nothing  else — his  misconceptions,  his 
vague  or  clearly  defined  notions.  They  also  furnish 
his  mental  and  physical  activities  an  employment  ex- 
actly suited  to  his  needs  and  wishes. 

The  power  to  use  good  English  and  to  express  him- 
self clearly  and  fittingly,  is  cultivated  from  the  very 
first.  While  this  merit  is  purely  incidental,  it  is  none 
the  less  valuable.  The  persistence  with  which  bad  and 
uncouth  words  and  phrases  are  employed  by  children 
in  our  common  school,  both  in  oral  work  and  in  com- 
position, admonishes  us  to  begin  early  to  eradicate 
these  faults.  It  seems  often  as  if  intermediate  and 
grammar  grades  were  more  faulty  and  wretched  in 
their  use  of  English  than  primary  grades.  But  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  early  and  persistent  practice  in 


26  Special  Method. 

the  best  forms  of  expression,  especially  in  connection 
with  interesting  and  appropriate  thought  matter,  will 
greatly  aid  correctness,  fluency,  and  confidence  in 
speech.  There  is  also  a  convincing  pedagogical  reason 
why  children  in  the  first  primary  should  be  held  to  the 
best  models  of  spoken  language.  They  enter  the  school 
better  furnished  with  oral  speech  than  with  a  knowledge 
of  any  school  study.  Their  home  experiences  have 
wrought  into  close  association  and  unity,  word  and 
thing.  So  intimate  and  living  is  the  relation  between 
word  and  thought  or  object,  that  a  child  really  does 
not  distinguish  between  them.  This  is  the  treasure  with 
which  he  enters  school,  and  it-should  not  be  wrapped  up 
in  a  napkin.  It  should  be  unrolled  at  once  and  put  to 
service.  Oral  speech  is  the  capital  with  which  a  child 
enters  the  business  of  education ;  let  him  employ  it. 
A  retrospect  upon  the  various  forms  of  school  ac- 
tivity which  spring,  in  practical  work,  from  the  use  of 
a  good  fairy  story,  reveals  how  many-sided  and  in- 
spiriting are  its  influences.  Starting  out  with  a  rich 
content  of  thought  peculiarly  germane  to  childish  in- 
terests, it  calls  for  a  full  employment  of  the  lan^ua^v 
resources  already  possessed  by  the  children.  In  the 
effort  to  picture  out,  with  pencil  or  chalk,  his  concep- 
tions of  the  story,  a  child  exercises  his  fanciful  and 
creative  wit,  as  well  as  the  muscles  of  arms  and  eyes. 
A  good  story  always  finds  its  setting  in  the  midst  of 
nature  or  society,  and  touches  up  with  a  sin 
homely,  but  poetic  charm,  the  commonest  veriti* 
human  experience.  The  appeal  to  the  sensibility  and 


Fairy   Tales.  27 

moral  judgment  of  pupils  is  direct  and  spontaneous, 
because  of  the  interests  and  sympathies  that  are  in- 
herent in  persons  and  touch  directly  the  childish  fancy. 
And,  lastly,  the  irrepressible  traditional  demand  that 
children  shall  learn  to  read,  is  fairly  and  honestly  met 
and  satisfied. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  fairy  tales  involve  the  sum 
total  of  primary  instruction,  but  they  are  an  illustra- 
tion of  how  rich  will  be  the  fruitage  of  our  educational 
effort  if  we  consider  first  the  highest  needs  and  inter- 
ests of  children,  and  allow  the  formal  arts  to  drop  into 
their  proper  subordination.  "The  best  is  good  enough 
for  children,"  and  when  we  select  the  best,  the  wide- 
reaching  connections  which  are  established  between 
studies  carry  us  a  long  step  toward  the  now  much 
bruited  correlation  and  concentration  of  studies. 


LIST  OF  FAIRY  TALES  FOR  FIRST  GRADE. 


FALL  LITERATURE— First  Term. 

1.  The  Old  Woman  and  Her  Pig. — Scudder's  Book 
of  Folk  Stories. 

2.  The    Three    Bears.— Scudder's    Book  of    Folk 
Stories. 

3.  The     Lion    and    the  Mouse.  —  ^Esop,    Public- 
School  Journal,  March  1893. 

4.  The    Anxious    Leaf. — Beecher's     "Norwood," 
Public-School  Journal,   December  1891. 

5.  The  Little  Match  Girl. — Andersen. 


28  Special  Method. 

WINTER  LITERATURE— Second  Term. 

1.  The     Fir     Tree.  --  Andersen,     Public-School 
Journal,  1893. 

2.  The  Four  Musicians. — Grimm. 

3.  The  Snow  Man. — Andersen. 

4.  The  Elves  and  the  Shoemaker. — Grimm. 

5.  The  Straw,  the  Coal  of  Fire,  and  the  Bean.— 
Grimm. 


SPRING  LITERATURE— Third  Term. 

1.  The   Discontented     Pine    Tree.  —  Todd    and 
Powell's    Third  Reader,  Public-School  Journal,  June. 
1891. 

2.  The  Bird  with  no  Name. — Grimm. 

3.  The    King    of    Birds.  —  Grimm,    Intelligence, 
June  15,  1893. 

4.  The  Conceited  Apple  Branch. — Anderson. 

5.  The  Pea  Blossom.  —  Andersen,    Public- School 
Journal,  November,  1891. 

6.  The  Ugly  Duckling. — Andersen. 


We  are  indebted  for  this  list  to  Mrs.  Lida  B.  McMurry, 
who  has  used  it  in  first  grade.  These  stories,  adopted  for  first 
grade,  are  to  be  published  soon. 


Robinson   Crusoe.  29 


ROBINSON   CRUSOE. 


In  selecting  suitable  literature  for  children  of  the 
second  grade  we  follow  in  the  steps  of  a  number  of 
distinguished  writers  and  teachers  and  choose  an 
English  classic — Robinson  Crusoe.  Rousseau  gave 
this  book  his  unqualified  approval  and  said  that  it 
would  be  the  first  and,  for  a  time,  the  only  book  that 
Emile  should  read.  The  Herbartians  have  been  using 
it  a  number  of  years,  while  some  American  teachers 
have  employed  it  for  oral  work  in  second  grade,  in  a 
short  school  edition.  In  one  sense,  the  book  needs  no 
introduction,  as  it  has  found  its  way  into  every  nook 
and  corner  of  the  world.  Originally  a  story  for  adults, 
it  has  reached  all,  and  illustrated  Christmas  editions, 
designed  even  for  children  from  three  years  and  up- 
ward, are  abundant.  To  the  youth  of  all  lands  it  has 
been,  to  say  the  least,  a  source  of  delight,  but  it  has 
been  regarded  as  a  book  for  the  family  and  home. 
What  would  happen  should  the  schoolmaster  lay  his 
hand  on  this  treasure  and  desecrate  it  to  school  pur- 
poses! We  desire  to  test  this  classic  work  on  the  side 
of  its  pedagogical  value  and  its  adaptation  to  the  uses 
of  regular  instruction.  If  it  is  really  unrivaled  as  a 
piece  of  children's  literature,  perhaps  it  has  also  no 
equal  for  school  purposes. 


30  Special  Method. 

In  making  the  transition  from  the  fairy  tale  to 
Robinson  Crusoe,  an  interesting  difference  or  contrast 
may  be  noticed.  Wilmann  says:  "Crusoe  is  at  once 
simple  and  plain  and  fanciful.  To  be  sure,  in  the  lat- 
ter case,  entirely  different  from  the  fairy  tale.  In  the 
fairy  story  the  fancy  seldom  pushes  rudely  against 
the  boundaries  of  the  real  world.  But  otherwise  in 
Crusoe.  Here  it  is  the  practical  Jancy  that  is  aroused, 
if  this  expression  appear  not  contradictory.  What  is 
Crusoe  to  do  now?  How  can  he  help  himself?  What 
means  can  he  invent?  Many  proposals  of  the  children 
will  have  to  be  rejected.  The  inexorable  'not  possible' 
shoves  a  bolt  before  the  door.  The  fancy  is  compelled 
to  limit  itself  to  the  task  of  combining  and  adjusting 
real  things.  The  compulsion  of  things  conditions  the 
progress  of  the  story.  'Thoughts  dwell  together 
easily,  but  things  jostle  each  other  roughly  in  space.' ' 

There  are  other  striking  dinVivncrs  between 
Crusoe  and  the  folk-lore  stories,  but  in  this  contrast 
we  are  now  chiefly  concerned.  After  reaching  the 
island,  he  is  checked  and  limited  at  every  step  by  the 
physical  laws  imposed  by  nature.  Struggle  and  fivt 
as  he  may  against  these  limits,  he  becomes  at  last  a 
philosopher,  and  quietly  takes  up  the  struggle  for  ex- 
istence under  those  inexorable  conditions.  The  child 
of  seven  or  eight  is  vaguely  acquainted  with  many  of 
the  simple  employments  of  the  household  and  of  the 
neighborhood.  Crusoe  also  had  a  vague  memory  of 
how  people  in  society  in  different  trades  and  occupa- 
tions supply  the  necessaries  and  con) forts  of  lifo. 


Robinson   Crusoe.  31 

Even  the  fairy  stories  give  many  hints  of  this  kind  of 
knowledge,  but  Robinson  Crusoe  is  face  to  face  with 
the  sour  facts.  He  is  cut  off  from  help  and  left  to  his 
own  resources.  The  interest  in  the  story  is  in  seeing 
how  he  will  shift  for  himself  and  exercise  his  wits  to 
insure  plenty  and  comfort.  With  few  tools  and  on  a 
barbarous  coast,  he  undertakes  what  men  in  society, 
by  mutual  exchange  and  by  division  of  labor,  have 
much  difficulty  in  performing.  Crusoe  becomes  a  car- 
penter, a  baker  and  cook,  a  hunter,  a  potter,  a  fisher, 
a  farmer,  a  tailor,  a  boatman,  a  stock  raiser,  a  basket- 
maker,  a  shoemaker,  a  tanner,  a  fruit-grower,  a  mason, 
a  physician.  And  not  only  so,  but  he  grappled  with 
the  difficulties  of  each  trade  or  occupation  in  a  bung- 
ling manner  because  of  inexperience  and  lack  of  skill 
and  exact  knowledge.  He  is  an  experimenter  and 
tester  along  many  lines.  The  entire  absence  of  help- 
ers centers  the  whole  interest  of  this  varied  struggle 
in  one  person.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Crusoe  is 
no  genius,  but  the  ordinary  boy  or  man.  He  has  an 
abundant  variety  of  needs  such  as  a  child  reared  un- 
der civilized  conditions  has  learned  to  feel.  The  whole 
range  of  activities,  usually  distributed  to  various 
classes  and  persons  in  society,  rests  now  upon  his 
single  shoulders.  If  he  were  an  expert  in  all  direc- 
tions, the  task  would  be  easier,  but  he  has  only  vague 
knowledge  and  scarcely  any  skill.  The  child,  there- 
fore, who  reads  this  story,  by  reason  of  the  slow,  toil- 
some, and  bungling  processes  of  Crusoe  in  meeting 
his  needs,  becomes  aware  how  difficult  and  laborious 


32  Special  Method. 

are  the  efforts  by  which  the  simple,  common  needs  of 
all  children  are  supplied. 

A  reference  to  the  different  trades  and  callings 
that  Crusoe  assumes  will  show  us  that  he  is  not  deal- 
ing with  rare  and  unusual  events,  but  with  the  com- 
mon simple  employments  that  lie  at  the  basis  of  society 
in  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  carpenter,  the  baker, 
the  farmer,  the  shoemaker,  etc. ,  are  at  work  in  every 
village  in  every  land.  Doubtless  this  is  one  reason 
why  the  story  acquires  such  a  hold  in  the  most  diverse 
countries.  The  Arab  or  the  Chinese  boy,  the  German 
or  American  child  finds  the  story  touching  the  ordinary 
facts  of  his  own  surroundings.  Though  the  story  finds 
its  setting  in  a  far  away  lonely  island  in  tropical  seas, 
Crusoe  is  daily  trying  to  create  the  objects  and  con- 
ditions of  his  old  home  in  England.  But  these  are  the 
same  objects  that  surround  every  child;  and  therefore, 
in  reading  Robinson  Crusoe,  the  pupil  is  making  an 
exhaustive  and  interesting  study  of  his  own  // 
The  presence  of  a  tropical  vegetation  and  of  a  strange 
climate  does  not  seriously  impair  this  fact.  The  skill 
of  a  great  literary  artist  appears  in  his  power  to  create 
a  situation  almost  devoid  of  common  comfort  an<l 
blessings  and  then  setting  his  hero  to  work  to  create 
them  by  single-handed  effort. 

It  will  hardly  be  questioned  that  the  study  of  the 
home  and  home  neighborhood  by  children  is  one  of  the 
large  and  prominent  problems  in  education.  Out 
of  their  social,  economic,  and  physical  environment 
children  get  the  most  important  lessons  of  life.  Not 


Robinson   Crusoe.  33 

only  does  the  home  furnish  a  varied  fund  of  informa- 
tion that  enables  them  to  interpret  books,  and  people, 
and  institutions,  as  they  sooner  or  later  go  out  into  the 
world,  but  all  the  facts  gathered  by  experience  and 
reading  in  distant  fields  must  flow  back  again  to  give 
deeper  meaning  to  the  labors  and  duties  which  sur- 
round each  citizen  in  his  own  home.  But  society  with 
its  commerce,  education,  and  industries,  is  an  exceed- 
ingly complex  affair.  The  child  knows  not  where  to 
begin  to  unravel  this  endless  machinery  of  forms  and 
institutions.  In  a  sense  he  must  get  away  from  or 
disentangle  himself  from  his  surroundings  in  order  to 
understand  them.  There  are  no  complex  conditions 
surrounding  Crusoe,  and  he  takes  up  the  labors  of  the 
common  trades  in  a  simple  and  primitive  manner. 
Physical  and  mental  effort  are  demanded  at  every  step, 
both  from  Crusoe  and  from  the  children.  Many  of  his 
efforts  involve  repeated  failure,  as  in  making  pottery, 
in  building  a  boat,  while  some  things  that  he  undertakes 
with  painful  toil  never  attain  success.  The  lesson  of 
toil  and  hardship  connected  with  the  simple  industries 
is  one  of  great  moment  to  children.  Our  whole  social 
fabric  is  based  on  these  toils  and  it  is  one  of  the  best 
results  of  a  sound  education  to  realize  the  place  and 
importance  of  hard  work. 

It  scarcely  needs  to  be  pointed  out  that  Crusoe 
typifies  a  long  period  of  man's  early  history,  the  age 
when  men  were  learning  the  rudiments  of  civilization 
by  taking  up  the  toils  of  the  blacksmith,  the  agricul- 
turalist, the  builder,  the  domesticator  of  animals  and 


34  Special  Method. 

plants.  Men  emerged  from  barbarism  as  they  slowly 
and  painfully  gained  the  mastery  over  the  resources  of 
nature.  Crusoe  is  a  sort  of  universal  man,  embodying 
in  his  single  effort  that  upward  movement  of  men 
which  has  steadily  carried  them  to  the  higher  levels  of 
progress.  It  has  been  said  with  some  truth  that  Rob- 
inson Crusoe  is  a  philosophy  of  history.  But  we 
scarcely  need  such  a  high-sounding  name.  To  the 
child  he  is  a  very  concrete  individual  man,  with  very 
simple  and  interesting  duties. 

In  a  second  point  the  author  of  Robinson  Crusoe 
shows  himself  a  literary  master.  There  is  an  intense 
and  naive  realism  in  his  story.  If  one  were  so  dis- 
posed, it  would  require  a  strong  effort  to  break  loose 
from  the  feeling  that  we  are  in  the  presence  of  real 
experiences.  There  is  a  quiet  but  irresistible  as- 
sumption of  unvarnished  and  even  disagreeable  fact  in 
the  narrative.  But  it  is  useless  to  describe  the  style 
of  a  book  so  familiar.  Its  power  over  youthful  fancy 
and  feeling  has  been  too  often  experienced  to  be 
doubted.  The  vivid  interest  which  the  book  awakens 
is  certain  to  carry  home  whatever  lessons  it  may  teach 
with  added  force.  So  great  is  this  influence  that  boys 
sometimes  imitate  the  efforts  of  Crusoe  l>y  making- 
caves,  building  ovens,  and  assuming  a  style  of  dress 
and  living  that  approximates  Crusoe's  state.  This 
supplies  to  teachers  a  hint  of  some  value.  The  story 
of  Crusoe  should  lead  to  excursions  into  the  home 
neighborhood  for  the  purpose  of  a  closer  examination 
of  the  trades  and  occupations  there  represented.  An 


Robinson  Crusoe.  35 

imitation  of  his  labors  may  also  be  encouraged.  The 
effort  to  mold  and  bake  vessels  from  potter's  clay,  the 
platting  of  baskets  from  willow  withes,  the  use  of 
tools  in  making  boxes  or  tables  may  be  attempted  far 
enough  to  discover  how  lacking  in  practical  ability  the 
children  are.  This  will  certainly  teach  them  greater 
respect  for  manual  skill. 

From  the  previous  discussion  it  might  appear  that 
we  regard  the  story  of  Crusoe  as  technological  and 
industrial  rather  than  moral.  But  it  would  be  a  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  a  book  is  not  moral  because  it  is 
not  perpetually  dispensing  moral  platitudes.  Most 
men's  lives  are  mainly  industrial.  The  display  of 
moral  qualities  is  only  occasional  and  incidental.  The 
development  of  moral  character  is  coincident  with  the 
labors  and  experiences  of  life  and  springs  out  of  them, 
being  manifested  by  the  spirit  with  which  one  acts 
toward  his  fellow-men.  But  Crusoe  was  alone  on  his 
island  and  there  might  seem  to  be  no  opportunity  to 
be  moral  in  relation  to  others.  Society,  to  be  sure, 
was  conspicuous  by  its  absence.  But  the  intense 
longing  with  which  he  thought  of  the  home  and  com- 
panionships lost  is  perhaps  the  strongest  sentiment  in 
the  book.  His  loneliness  brings  out  most  vividly  his 
true  relation  to  home  and  friends. 

His  early  life,  till  the  shipwreck,  was  that  of  a 
wayward  and  reckless  youth,  disobedient  to  parents 
and  seemingly  without  moral  scruples.  Even  during 
the  first  months  upon  the  island  there  appears  little 
moral  change  or  betterment.  But  slowly  the  bitter 


36  Special  Method. 

experiences  of  his  lonely  life  sober  him.  He  finds  a 
Bible  and  a  fit  of  sickness  reveals  the  distresses  that 
may  lie  before  him.  "When  once  the  change  has  set  in,  it 
is  rapid  and  thorough.  He  becomes  devout,  he  longs 
to  return  to  his  parents  and  atone  for  his  faults.  '  A 
complete  reformation  of  his  moral  disposition  is 
effected.  If  one  will  take  the  pains  to  read  the  orig- 
inal Robinson  Crusoe  he  will  find  it  surprisingly  seri- 
ous and  moral  in  its  tone.  He  devotes  much  time  to 
soliloquizing  on  the  distresses  of  his  condition  and 
upon  the  causes  which  have  brought  him  to  misery. 
He  diagnoses  his  case  with  an  amount  of  detail  that 
must  be  tedious  to  children.  The  fact  that  these  parts 
of  the  book  often  leave  little  direct  impression  upon 
children  is  proof  that  they  are  chiefly  engaged  with 
the  adventure  and  physical  embarrassments  of  Crusoe. 
For  the  present  it  is  sufficient  to  observe  that  the 
,  story  is  deeply  and  intensely  moral,  both  in  its  spirit 
and  in  the  changes  described  in  Crusoe. 

We  are  next  led  to  inquire  whether  the  industrial 
and  moral  lessons  contained  in  this  story  are  likely  to 
be  extracted  from  it  by  a  boy  or  girl  who  reads  it 
alone,  without  the  aid  of  a  teacher.  Most  young  read- 
ers  of  Crusoe  are  carried  along  by  the  interesting  ad- 
venture. It  is  a  very  surprising  and  entertaining 
story.  But  children  even  less  than  adults  are  inclined 
to  go  deeper  than  the  surface  and  draw  up  hidden 
treasures.  De  Foe's  work  is  a  piece  of  classic  litera- 
ture. But  few  people  are  inclined  to  get  at  tin4  deeper 
meaning  and  spirit  of  a  classical  masterpiece  ui 


Robinson  Crusoe.  37 

they  go  through  it  in  companionship  with  a  teacher 
who  is  gifted  to  disclose  its  better  meaning.  This  is 
true  of  any  classical  product  we  might  mention.  It 
should  be  the  peculiar  function  of  the  school  to  culti- 
vate a  taste  and  an  appreciative  taste  for  the  best  lit- 
erature, not  by  leaving  it  to  the  hap-hazard  home 
reading  of  pupils,  but  by  selecting  the  best  things 
adapted  to  the  minds  of  children  and  then  employing 
their  teaching  skill  to  bring  these  treasures  close  to 
the  hearts  and  sympathies  of  children.  Many  young 
people  do  not  read  Robinson  Crusoe  at  all;  many 
others  do  not  appreciate  its  better  phases.  The  school 
will  much  improve  its  work  by  taking  for  its  own  this 
best  of  children's  stories,  and  extend  and  deepen  the 
children's  appreciation  of  a  classic. 

The  story  of  Robinson  Crusoe  is  made  by  the 
Herbartians  the  nucleus  for  the  concentration  of 
studies  in  the  second  year.  This  importance  is  given 
to  it  on  account  of  its  strong  moral  tone  and  because 
of  its  universal  typical  character  in  man's  develop- 
ment. Without  attempting  a  solution  of  the  problem 
of  concentration  air  this  juncture,  we  should  at  least 
observe  the  relations  of  this  story  to  the  other  studies. 
Wilmann  says:  "The  everywhere  and  nowhere  of  the 
fairy  tale  gives  place  to  the  first  geographical  limita- 
tions. The  continents,  the  chief  countries  of  Europe 
come  up,  besides  a  series  of  geographical  concepts 
such  as  island,  coast,  bay,  river,  hill,  mountain,  sea, 
etc.  The  difference  in  climate  is  surprising.  Crusoe 
fears  the  winter  and  prepares  for  it,  but  his  fear  is 


38  Special  Method. 

needless,  for  no  winter  reaches  his  island."  We  have 
already  observed  its  instructive  treatment  of  the  com- 
mon  occupations  which  prepare  for  later  geographical 
study,  as  well  as  for  natural  science. 

Many  plants  and  animals  are  brought  to  notice 
which  would  furnish  a  good  beginning  for  natural  sci- 
ence lessons.  It  is  advisable,  however,  to  study  rather 
those  home  animals  and  plants  which  correspond  best 
to  the  tropical  products  or  animals  in  lessons.  Trop- 
ical fruits,  the  parrot,  and  the  goat  we  often  meet  at 
home,  but  in  addition,  the  sheep,  the  ox,  the  mocking- 
bird, the  woodpecker,  our  native  fruits  and  grains, 
and  the  fish,  turtles,  and  minerals  of  the  home,  may 
well  be  suggested  and  studied  in  parallel  courses  with 
the  life  Crusoe. 

Although  the  story  should  l>e  given  and  disci 
orally,  the  children  should  also  read  it  later  a>   a    part 
of  the  regular  reading  ex.-  the  course.     Instead 

of  suffering    from    this    repetition,    their    interest    will 
only  be  increased.      Classical  products  usually  gain  by 
repetition.      The   facts  are   i»n»ught    out    moiv 
and  the  deeper    moaning   i>    perceived.      To    have   the 
oral  treatment  of  a  story  precede  it> 

weeks  01*  months  produco  an  excellent   effect   upon  the 
style  of  the  reading.      The  thought  being  familiar,  and 
the  interest  strong,  the  expression    will 
and  natural.      Children  take  a  pride  in  reading  a  >tor\ 
which  they  at  first  must  receive  orally  for  lack  of  r 
ing  power. 

The  same  advantageous   drill   in    the   UM-  of  g 


Robinson    Crusoe.  3f) 

English  accrues  to  the  Crusoe  story  that  was  observed 
in  the  fairy  tales.  There  is  abundant  opportunity  for 
oral  narrative  and  description. 

A  similar  use  of  the  pencil  and  chalk  in  graphi- 
cally representing  the  objects  of  study  is  carried  for- 
ward. Thus  the  eye  becomes  more  accurate  in  its 
observation  and  the  hand  more  facile  in  tracing  the 
outlines  of  the  interesting  forms  studied. 

In  thus  glancing  over  the  field  we  discover  the 
same  many-sided  and  intimate  relation  with  other 
school  studies,  as  in  the  previous  grade.  In  fact, 
Crusoe  is  the  first  extended  classical  masterpiece  which 
is  presented  to  the  children  as  a  whole.  Such  parts 
of  the  story  as  are  of  most  pedagogical  value  should 
be  simplified  and  woven  together  into  a  continuous 
narrative.  That  part  of  the  story  which  precedes  the 
shipwreck  may  be  reduced  to  a  few  paragraphs  which 
bring  out  clearly  his  early  home  surroundings,  his 
disobedience  and  the  desertion  of  his  parents,  and 
the  voyage  which  led  to  his  lonely  life  upon  the  island. 
The  period-embraced  in  his  companionless  labors  and 
experiences  constitutes  the  important  part  for  school 
uses.  A  few  of  the  more  important  episodes  follow- 
ing the  capture  of  Friday  and  his  return  home  may 
be  briefly  told.  We  deem  it  a  long  step  forward  to 
get  some  of  our  great  classical  masterpieces  firmly 
embedded  in  the  early  years  of  our  school  course.  It 
will  contribute  almost  as  much  to  the  culture  and 
stimulation  of  teachers  as  of  pupils. 

The  method  of  handling  this  narrative  before  the 


40  Special  Meth<><I. 

class  will  be  similar  to  that  of  the  fairy  tales.  A 
simple  and  vivid  recital  of  the  facts,  with  frequent 
questions  and  discussions,  so  as  to  draw  the  story 
closer  to  the  child's  own  thought  and  experience,  should 
be  made  by  the  teacher.  Much  skill  in  illustrative 
device,  in  graphic  description,  in  diagram  or  drawing, 
in  the  appeal  to  the  sense  experiences  of  the  pupils,  is 
in  demand.  The  excursion  to  places  of  interest  in  the 
neighborhood  suggested  by  the  story  begins  to  be  an 
important  factor  of  the  school  exercises.  As  children 
grow  older  they  acquire  skill  and  confidence  in  oral 
narrative,  and  should  be  hold  to  greater  independence 
in  oral  reproductions. 

The  story  of  The  Seven   Little   Sisters,    by  .lane 
Andrews,  has    been    much   used   in   our  schools  with  a 
similar  oral  tn-atment.      It    Seems  well  adapted  to  tin- 
first  part  of  the  second  irraoV  :iningCn. 
The  Crusoe  story  may  often  be  continued  to  aclvai 
into  the  third  grade.      Published  by  Lee  .V   Shrpanl. 
Boston.     Price,  (>0  cents. 

One  of  the  best  school  editions  of  Robinson  Cru- 
soe is  published  by  Ginn  ,V  Co..  pri.  its, 

A  simple  edition   for  second    irrade  i>  soon 
published. 


Mythical  Stories.  41 


THE  MYTHICAL  STORIES. 


In  the  third  grade  we  wish  to  bring  a  number  of 
the  mythical  stories  vividly  before  the  children.  The 
classical  myths  which  belong  to  the  literature  of  Eu- 
rope are  the  fund  from  which  to  select  the  best.  Not 
all,  but  only  a  few  of  the  simple  and  appropriate  stories 
are  chosen.  Only  two  recitation  periods  a  week  are  to 
be  set  apart  for  the  oral  treatment  of  these  classical 
myths.  But  later  in  the  progress  of  the  reading  les- 
sons other  stories  should  be  treated.  The  few  recita- 
tion periods  used  for  oral  work  are  rather  designed 
to  introduce  children  to  the  spirit  of  this  literature,  to 
get  them  into  the  appreciative  mind. 

This  body  of  ancient  myths  comes  down  to  us, 
sifted  out  of  the  early  literature  of  the  active-minded 
Greeks.  They  have  found  their  way  as  a  simple  and 
charming  poetry  into  the  national  literature  of  all  the 
European  countries.  Is  this  the  material  suited  to 
nine  and  ten-year-old  children  ?  It  will  not  be  ques- 
tioned that  these  myths  belong  to  the  best  literary 
products  of  Europe,  but  are  they  suited  to  children  ? 

It  is  evident  that  some  of  our  best  literary  judges 
have  deemed  them  appropriate.  Hawthorne  has  put 
them  into  a  form  designed  especially  for  the  young 
folk.  Charles  Kingsley  wrote  of  the  Greek  myths  for 
his  children:  "Now  I  love  these  old  Hellens  heartily 


42  Special  Method. 

and  they  seem  to  me  like  brothers,  though  they  have 
all  been  dead  and  gone  many  a  hundred  years.  They 
are  come  to  tell  you  some  of  their  old  fairy  tales,  which 
they  loved  when  they  were  young  like  you.  For  na- 
tions begin  at  first  by  being  children  like  you,  though 
they  are  made  up  of  grown  men.  They  are  children 
at  first  like  you — men  and  women  with  children's 
hearts;  frank,  and  affectionate,  and  full  of  trust  and 
teachable,  loving  to  see  and  learn  all  the  won 
around  them;  and  greedy  also,  too  often,  and  passion- 
ate and  silly,  as  children  are*" 

Not  a  few  other  authors  of  less  note  have  tri 
turn  the  classical  myths  of  the  old   <  I  reek   poets  into 
simple  Kn^lish    for  the  entertainment    and   instrn- 
of   children.       Scarcely  any  of  these  -tones  that   him* 
not   appeared    in    various    children's    books    in    recent 
years.      Taken   as  a  whole,    they   are  a  storehou- 
children's  literature.    The  philosopher.  llerUirt.  lo 
upon  the  poem-  of    Homer  a-  ideal  expiv- 

to  the  boyhood   of    the   race,  and    the  story  of  UK 
wa>  regarded  by  him  as  the  hoy's  book.      For  the  child 
of  eight  or  nine  years  he  thought    it  the  most  suit 
story. 

Kin^-sley    say*    in     his    introduction:       -Now    you 
must  not  think  Of  the  Greeks    in    this    hook    as    learned 
men.   living    in    ^reat  cities,    Mich    as    they    were    after 
wards,  when  they  wrought    all    their   beautiful    \\ . 
but  as  country   people,    iivin^  on    farms  and  in  w, 
villages,    in   a  simple,    hard-working   way.  so  that    the 

i  tost  kings  and  1.-  -ked  their  own  meal*  and 


Mythical    Stories.  43A 

thought  it  no  shame,  and  made  their  own  ships  and 
weapons,  and  fed  and  harnessed  their  own  horses.  So 
that  a  man  was  honored  among  them,  not  because  he 
happened  to  be  rich,  but  according  to  his  skill  and  his 
strength  and  courage  and  the  number  of  things  he 
could  do.  For  they  were  but  grown  up  children, 
though  they  were  right  noble  children  too,  and  it  was 
with  them  as  it  is  now  at  school,  the  strongest  and 
cleverest  boy,  though  he  be  poor,  leads  all  the  rest." 
In  the  introduction  to  the  Wonder  Book  we  find 
,the  following:  "Hawthorne  took  a  vital  interest  in 
child  life.  He  was  accustomed  to  observe  his  own 
children  very  closely.  There  are  private  manuscripts 
still  extant  which  present  exact  records  of  what  his 
young  son  and  elder  daughter  said  or  did  from  hour  to 
hour,  the  father  seating  himself  in  their  play  room 
and  patiently  noting  all  that  passed.  To  this  habit  of 
watchful  and  sympathetic  scrutiny  we  may  attribute 
in  part  the  remarkable  felicity,  the  fortunate  ease  of 
adaptation  to  the  immature  understanding,  and  the 
skillful  appeal  to  the  fresh  imaginations  which  charac- 
terize his  stories  for  the  young."  Hawthorne  himself 
says:  "  The  author  has  long  been  of  the  opinion  that 
many  of  the  classical  myths  were  capable  of  being 
rendered  into  very  capital  reading  for  children. 
No  epoch  of  time  can  claim  a  copyright  on 
these  immortal  fables.  They  seem  never  to  have  been 
made,  and  so  long  as  man  exists  they  can  never 
perish;  but  by  their  indestructibility  itself  they  are 
legitimate  subjects,  for  every  age  to  clothe  with  its 


44  Special   Method. 

own  garniture  of  manners  and  sentiment  and  to  imbue 
with  its  own  morality.  *  *  *  The  author  has  not 
always  thought  it  necessary  to  write  downward  in 
order  to  meet  the  comprehension  of  children.  He  has 
generally  suffered  the  therne  to  soar,  whenever  such 
was  its  tendency.  Children  possess  an  unestimated 
sensibility  to  whatever  is  deep  or  high  in  imagination 
or  feeling  so  long  as  it  is  simple  likewise.  It  is  only 
the  artificial  and  the  complex  that  bewilder  them." 

A  brief  analysis  of  the  qualities  which  render  these 
myths  so  attractive  will  help  us  to  see  their  value  in 
the  education  of  children. 

The  astonishing  brightness  of  fanciful  episode  and 
of  pure  and  clear  cut  imagery  has  an  indestructible 
charm  for  children.  They  can  soar  into  and  above  the 
clouds  on  the  shining  wings  of  Pegasus.  With  Eolus 
they  shut  up  the  contrary  winds  in  an  ox-hide  and 
later  let  thenfout  to  plague  the  much-suffering  Ulys- 
ses. They  watch  with  astonishment  as  Jason  yokes 
the  fire-breathing  oxen  and  strews  the  field  with  up- 
rooted stumps  and  stones  as  he  prepared  the  soil  for 
the  seed  of  dragon's  teeth.  Kaeh  child  becomes  a  ; 
as  he  recreates  the  sparkling  brightness  of  these 
simple  pictures.  And  when  a  child  has  once  suffered 
his  fancy  to  soar  to  these  mountain  heights  and  ocean 
depths,  it  will  no  longer  be  possible  to  make  his  life 
entirely  dull  and  prosaic.  He  has  caught  glimpses  of 
a  bright  world  that  will  linger  unfading  in  the  up- 
lands of  his  memory.  And  while  they  are  so  deep  and 
lofty  they  are  still,  as  Hawthorne  -;i\ •>.  very  *in 


Mythical  Stories.  45 

Some  of  the  most  classic  of  the  old  stories  are  indeed 
too  complex  for  third  grade  children;  too  many  persons 
and  too  much  complexity,  as  in  the  Tales  of  Troy.  But 
on  the  other  hand,  many  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the 
old  myths  are  as  plain  and  simple  to  a  child  as  a  float- 
ing summer  cloud.  High  in  the  sky  they  may  be  or 
deep  in  the  reflection  of  some  classic  lake  or  spring, 
but  clear  and  plain  to  the  thought  of  a  little  child. 
These  stories  in  their  naive  simplicity  reflect  the  won- 
der and  surprise  with  which  a  person  first  beholds 
grand  and  touching  scenery,  whether  it  be  the  oppres- 
sive grandeur  of  some  beetling  mountain  crag,  or  the 
placid  quiet  of  a  moonlit  stream.  The  stories  selected 
for  this  grade  should  be  the  simplest  and  best.  The 
Golden  Touch,  The  Chimsera  of  Hawthorne,  the  epi- 
sodes of  the  Golden  Fleece,  with  others  similar. 

In  one  form  or  another  they  introduce  us  to  the 
company  of  heroes,  or,  at  least,  of  great  and  simple 
characters.  Deeds  of  enterprise  and  manliness  or  of 
unselfishness  and  generosity  art?  the  climax  of  the 
story.  To  meet  danger  and  hardship  or  ridicule  for 
the  sake  of  a  high  purpose  is  their  underlying  thought. 
Perseus  and  Jason  and  Ulysses  are  all  ambitious  to 
prove  their  title  to  superior  shrewdness  and  courage. 
When  we  get  fairly  into  the  mythical  age,  we  find  our- 
selves among  the  heroes,  among  those  striving  for 
mastery  and  leadership  in  great  undertakings.  Phys- 
ical prowess  and  manly  spirit  are  its  chief  virtues. 
And  can  there  be  any  question  that  there  is  a  time  in 
the  lives  of  children  when  these  ideas  fill  the  horizon 


46  Special  Method. 

of  their  thought?  Samson  and  David  and  Hercules, 
Bellerophon,  and  Jason, are  a  child's  natural  thoughts; 
or,  at  least,  they  fit  the  frame  of  his  mind  so  exactly 
that  one  may  say  the  picture  and  the  frame  were  made 
for  each  other.  The  history  of  most  countries  con- 
tains such  an  age  of  heroes.  Tell  in  Switzerland, 
Siegfried  in  Germany,  Bruce  in  Scotland,  Romulus 
and  Horatius  at  Rome,  Alfred  in  England,  are  all 
national  heroes  of  the  mythical  age,  whose  deeds  are 
heroic  and  of  public  good.  The  Greek  stories  are 
only  a  more  classic  edition  of  this  historical  epoch, 
and  should  lead  up  to  a  study  of  these  later  products  of 
European  literature. 

Several  forms  of  moral  excellence  are  objectively 
realized  or  personified  in  these  st<>: 

As  the  wise  Centaur,  after  teaching  Jason  to  be 
skillful  and  brave,  sent  him  out  into  the  world,  he 
.said:  "Well,  go,  my  son;  the  throne  belongs  to  thy 
father  and  the  gods  love  justice.  But  remember, 
wherever  thou  dost  wander,  to  observe  these  three 
things: 

44  Relieve  the  di> 

<4  Respect  the  aged. 

'4Be  true  to  thy  word. 

Jcu 

And  many  events   in    Jason's    life    i  the 

wisdom  of    these   words.      The  miraculous   j)'t<-h<>r   U 
one   whose   fountain    of    refreshing    milk    bubbled    al- 
ways    because    of     a    gentle     deed    of     hospitality 
strangers.       Kine;    Midas,    on    the  other   hand 


Mythical  Stories.  47 

ences  in  the  most  graphic  form  the  punishment  which 
ought  to  follow  miserly  greed,  while  his  humble  peni- 
tence brought  back  his  daughter  and  the  homely  com- 
forts of  life.  Bellerophon  is  filled  with  a  desire  to 
perform  a  noble  deed  that  will  relieve  the  distress  of  a 
whole  people.  After  the  exercise  of  much  patience 
and  self-control  he  succeeds  in  his  generous  enterprise. 
Many  a  lesson  of  worldly  wisdom  and  homely  virtue  is 
brought  out  in  the  story  of  Ulysses'  varied  and  adven- 
turesome career. 

These  myths  bring  children  into  lively  contact 
with  European  history  and  geography,  as  well  as  with 
its  modes  of  life  and  thought.  The  early  history  of 
Europe  is  in  all  cases  shrouded  in  mist  and  legend. 
But  even  from  this  historically  impenetrable  past  has 
sprung  a  literature  that  has  exercised  a  profound  influ- 
ence upon  the  life  and  growth  of  the  people.  Not  that 
children  are  conscious  of  the  significance  of  these 
ideas,  but  being  placed  in  an  atmosphere  which  is  full 
of  them,  their  deeper  meaning  gradually  unfolds  itself. 
The  early  myths  afford  an  interesting  manner  in 
which,  esppcially  for  children,  to  come  in  contact  with 
the  history  and  geography  of  important  countries. 
Those  countries  they  must,  sooner  or  later,  make  the 
acquaintance  of  both  geographically  and  historically, 
and  could  anything  be  designed  to  take  stronger  hold 
upon  their  imagination  and  memory  than  these  charm- 
ing myths,  which  were  the  poetry  and  religion  of  the 
people  once  living  there? 

It  is  a  very  simple  ajj^^^^iti^^^te  of  culture, 

$£«!•« 

V.  ir^ii 


48  Special  Method. 

whose  ships,  arms,  agriculture,  and  domestic  life  are 
given  us  in  clear  and  pleasing  pictures.  Our  own 
country  is  largely  lacking  in  a  mythical  age.  Our 
culture  sprung,  more  than  half  grown,  from  the  midst 
of  Europe's  choicest  nations,  and  out  of  institutions 
that  had  been  centuries  in  forming.  The  myths  of 
Eprope  are  therefore  as  truly  ours  as  they  are  the  treas- 
ure of  Englishmen,  of  Germans,  or  of  Greeks.  Again, 
our  own  literature,  as  well  as  that  of  European  states, 
is  full  of  the  spirit  and  suggestion  of  the  mythical 
Our  poets  and  writers  have  drawn  much  of  their 
imagery  from  this  old  storehouse  of  thought,  and  a 
child  will  better  understand  the  works  of  the  present 
through  this  contact  with  mythical  ages. 

In  method  of   treatment   with   school  classes  they 
will  admit  of  a  variation  from  the  plan  used  with  Rob- 
inson Crusoe.      One  unaccustomed   to   the  readii 
such  stories  would  be  at  a  loss  for  a  method  of  treat 
ment  with  children.      There   is   a   charm   and   literary 
art  in  the  presentation  of  the  stories  that  would  make 
the   teacher   feel    unqualified    to    present    them.      The 
children  are  not  yet  sufficiently  masters  of  the 
symbols  of  speech  to  read   for  themselves.     Shall    the 
teacher  simply  read  the  stories  to  children?   We  would 
suggest  first  of  all,  that  the    teacher,  who   would    ex- 
pect to  make  use  of  these  materials,  steep  himself  fully 
in  literature  of   this  class,  and  bring  his  mind    in! 
miliar   acquaintance   and    sympathy    with    its    charac- 
ters.     In  interpreting  classical  authors   to  pupils,  we 
are  justified  in  requiring  of  the  teacher  intimate  knowl- 


Mythical  Stories.  49 

edge  and  appreciative  sympathy  with  his  author.  Cer- 
tainly no  one  will  teach  these  stories  well  whose  fancy 
was  never  touched  into  airy  flights— who  cannot  be- 
come a  child  again  and  revel  in  its  pleasures.  No  con- 
descension is  needed,  but  ascension  to  a  free  and  ready 
flight  of  fancy.  By  learning  to  drink  at  these  ancient 
fountains  of  song  and  poetry,  the  teacher  might  learn 
to  tell  a  fairy  story  for  himself.  But  doubtless  it  will 
be  well  to  mingle  oral  narrative  and  description  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher  with  the  fit  reading  of  choice  parts 
so  as  to  better  preserve  the  classic  beauty  and  sug- 
gestion of  the  author.  Children  are  quite  old  enough 
now  to  appreciate  beauty  of  language  and  expressive, 
racy  turns  of  speech.  In  the  midst  of  question,  sug- 
gestion, and  discussion  between  pupil  and  teacher, 
the  story  should  be  carried  forward,  never  forgetting 
to  stop  at  suitable  intervals  and  get  such  a  reproduc- 
tion of  the  story  as  the  little  children  are  capable  of. 
And  indeed  they  are  capable  of  much  in  this  direction, 
for  their  thoughts  are  more  nimble,  and  their  power  of 
expression  more  apt, oftentimes, than  the  teacher's  own. 
We  would  not  favor  a  simple  reading  of  these  sto- 
ries for  the  entertainment  of  pupils.  It  should  take 
more  the  form  of  a  school  exercise,  requiring  not  only 
interest  and  attention,  but  vigorous  effort  to  grasp 
and  reproduce  the  thought.*  The  result  should  be  a 
much  livelier  and  deeper  insight  into  the  story  than 
would  be  secured  by  a  simple  reading  for  amusement 
or  variety.  They  should  prepare  also  for  an  apprecia- 
tive reading  of  other  myths  in  the  following  grades. 


50  Sj,<ri<il 

After  all,  in  two  or  three  recitation  periods  a 
week,  extending  through  a  year,  it  can  not  be  expected 
that  children  will  make  the  acquaintance  of  all  the 
literature  that  could  be  properly  called  the  myth  of 
the  heroic  age  in  different  countries.  All  that  we  may 
expect  is  to  enter  this  paradise  of  children,  to  pluck  a 
few  of  its  choicest  flowers,  and  get  such  a  breath  of 
their  fragrance  that  there  will  be  a  child's  desire  to 
return  again  and  again.  The  school  also  should  pro- 
vide in  the  succeeding  year  for  an  abundance  of  raid- 
ing of  myths.  The  same  old  stories  which  they  first 
learned  to  enjoy  in  oral  ivcitations  should  be  ivad  in 
books,  and  still  others  should  be  utilized  in  the  regular 
reading  classes  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  grades.  In  this 
way  the  myths  of  other  countries  may  be  brought  in, 
the  story  of  Tell,  of  Si»'irfried,  of  Alar.c.  UK 
others. 

In   summarixinir   the   advantages   of  a   Systematic 
attempt  to  get  tlii>  simp.'  lore  into  our  sd, 

we  recall    the    interest    and    mental    activity    which   it 
arouses,  it>   power   to   please   and  satisfy   the 
fancy  in  children,  its  fundamental  connection  with  tin- 
root  ideas  of    Kuropean    history   and   literature,  its  liv- 
ing personification   of  generous    '  ml    insti' 
the  virtues  of  bravery,    man                md   unselfish! 
and  all  this  in  a  classic  farm  that  still  further  u 
its  culture  effect  upon   teacher  and   pupil.      It   si 
never    he    forgotten    that    teacher   and    pupil    alike  are 
here  imbibing  lessons  and  inspirations  that  draw  them 
into  closer  sympathy  because  the  subject  is  worti 
both  old  and  young. 


Mythical  Stories.  51 


BOOKS  FOR  THIRD  GRADE. 


1 .  The  Wonder  Book  of  Nathaniel  Hawthorne. 

The  following  stories  are  especially  recommended:  The 
Gorgon's  Head,  The  Golden  Touch,  The  Miraculous 
Pitcher,  and  The  Chimaera. 

One  should  preserve  as  much  as  possible  of  the  spirit 
and  language  of  the  author.  Perhaps  in  classes  with 
children  the  other  stories  will  be  found  equally  attract- 
ive. The  Paradise  of  Children  and  The  Three  Golden 
Apples.  Published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  Boston. 
Price,  40  cents. 

2.  Kinysley's  Greek  Heroes. 

The  stories  of  Perseus,  the  Argonauts,  and  Theseus, 
especially  adapted  to  children.  It  is  advisable  for  the 
teacher  to  abbreviate  the  stories,  leaving  out  unimportant 
parts,  but  giving  the  best  portions  in  the  fullest  detail. 
Published  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  of  Boston.  Price,  50  cents. 

3.  Jason  s  Quest,  by  Lowell. 

The  story  of  Argonauts  with  many  other  Greek  myths 
woven  into  the  narrative.  This  recent  book  is  a  store  of 
excellent  material.  The  teacher  should  select  from  it 
those  parts  specially  suited  to  the  grade.  Published  by 
Leach.  Shewell  &  Sanborn,  Chicago. 

4.  Adventures  of  Ulysses,  by  Lamb. 

A  small  book  from  which  the  chief  episodes  of  Ulysses' 
career  can  be  obtained.  Published  by  Ginn  &  Co., 
Boston.  Price,  35  cents. 


52  Special  Method. 

5.  Tales  of  Troy,   by  DeGarmo. 

The  story  of  the  siege  of  Troy  and  of  the  great  events 
of  Homer's  Iliad.  This  story,  on  account  of  its  complexity, 
we  deem  better  adapted  to  the  fourth  grade.  Published 
by  Public-School  Publishing  Co.,  Bloomington  111.  Price, 
20  cents. 

6.  Stories  of  the  Old  World,  by  Church. 

Stories  of  the  Argo,  of  Thebes,  of  Troy,  of  Ulysses,  and 
of  ^Eneas.  Stories  are  simply  and  well  told.  It  is  a  book 
of  350  pages  and  would  serve  well  as  a  supplementary 
reader  in  fourth  grade.  Published  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  of 
Boston.  Price,  50  cents. 


Pioneer  History  Stories. 


F10NEER  HISTORY  STORIES. 


FOR  FOURTH  AN])  FIFTH  GRADES. 

After  gaining  an  introduction  to  the  wonder  sto- 
ries of  early  European  history  in  the  third  grade, 
t  we  find  in  our  own  early  history  suitable  material  for 
the  fourth  and  fifth  grades.  Our  first  American  his- 
tory also  belongs  to  the  heroic  age.  It  was  the  blos- 
soming time  for  deeds  of  individual  heroism.  But  it 
is  practical  and  real.  The  old  heroes  of  mythical 
times  had  to  do  with  monsters  and  demi-gods,  or  with 
the  huge  forces  of  nature  in  uncouth  personification 
as  Polyphemus,  Scylla,  and  Charybdis.  The  heroes  of 
this  new  world  had  more  real  and  tangible  hardships. 
Mountains,  forests,  rivers,  stormy  oceans,  wild  beasts, 
and  Indians,  and  other  untold  hardships  and  distresses 
of  people  far  from  their  sources  of  supply.  In  the 
first  and  second  grades  we  found  a  striking  contrast 
between  the  fanciful  fairy  tales  and  Robinson  Crusoe's 
experiences.  One  transcends  the  laws  of  nature,  the 
other  is  held  in  absolute  subjection  to  them.  The  same 
contrast  stands  out  between  the  stories  of  the  mythi- 
cal age  and  the  pioneer  histories.  The  early  explorers 
and  settlers  of  our  land  first  discovered  and  opened  up 
its  vast  stretches  of  forest,  mountain,  and  desert; 
then  struggled  manfully  against  savage  difficulties  to 


54  Special  Method. 

gain  possession  of  its  soil,  and  finally  labored  slowly 
and  painfully  to  build  houses,  roads,  villages,  and  all 
the  later  institutions  of  culture.  It  can  hardly  be  said 
that  our  history  stories  can  be  used  to  advantage  be- 
fore the  fourth  grade,  but  for  children  of  this  age 
they  are  well  adapted. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  history  stories  in  use 
in  the  first  and  second  grades,  and  some  even  of  our 
kindergartners  employ  the  stories  of  Columbus  and  of 
Washington  and  of  others  with  still  younger  children. 
They  claim  also  that  much  interest  is  awakened  by 
such  stories^  The  interest,  however,  that  may  be 
awakened  by  a  skillful  teacher  is  not  a  full  proof  of  the 
pedagogical  value  of  the  stories  for  primary  children. 
We  claim  that  the  children  of  the  first  and  second 
grades  especially  are  not  mature  enough  to  <ii 
these  historical  narratives.  We  wish  to  use  the  sto- 
ries at  that  point  where  they  will  produce  the  greatest 
effect.  Nor  do  we  believe  that  a  story  should  be  re- 
peated from  year  to  year  in  successive  grades.  Let 
the  story,  with  its  full  accompaniment  of  detail  and 
environment,  be  told  by  the  teacher  and  reproduced 
by  the  children  at  that  time  when  they  are  able  to 
understand  it  clearly  and  receive  a  strong  and  perma- 
nent impression.  We  have  tested  these  pioneer  histo- 
ries from  time  to  time  upon  children  in  the  third  and 
fourth  grades  and  have  reached-  the  conclusion  that 
third  grade  pupils  are  not  quite  equal  to  a  satisfactory 
grasp  of  them.  The  following  discussion  will  make 
plain  the  qualitative  elements  in  these  stories  that  fit 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  55 

them   for   use   in   the  fourth  and  fifth  grades,   rather 
than  at  other  periods  of  the  school  course. 

The  pioneer  stories  constitute  the  first  stages  of 
an  unbroken  series  of  history  studies,  beginning  in 
the  fourth  grade  and  extending  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  common  school.  Taking  up  first  the  best  early 
biographies  of  the  home  state,  we  advance  to  adjacent 
parts  of  the  country,  north,  south,  east,  and  west, 
until  the  main  lines  of  pioneer  life  and  its  leading 
characters  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  have 
been  treated. 

In  order  to  secure  stories  which  are  adapted  to 
children  of  this  age,  certain  limits  in  their  selection 
must  be  observed.  First,  they  should  be  biographical 
to  secure  simplicity  and  interest.  Secondly,  the  con- 
ditions of  society  should  be  simple  and  primitive, 
easily  surveyed  and  comprehended.  This  condition 
excludes  stories  from  the  period  of  the  Revolution  and 
of  the  Civil  War  unless  they  lie  apart  from  the  main 
struggle  and  have  a  distinct  pioneer  character  of  their 
own.  Not  that  stories  taken  from  the  midst  of  the 
Revolution  or  of  the  Civil  War  are  less  interesting  and 
valuable,  but  they  should  come  later  to  illustrate  the 
spirit  and  temper  of  those  times.  The  whole  situation 
of  a  story,  its  historical  setting,  should  be  made  trans- 
parent to  the  minds  of  children,  and  it  is  impossible 
for  them  to  understand  the  complex  movements  of 
armies  in  a  great  national  struggle,  much  less  the 
state  of  government,  legislation,  and  finance,  insep- 
arably connected  therewith.  Thirdly,  they  should  ex- 


56  Special  Method. 

hibit  the  lives  of  men  of  high  character  and  purpose, 
such  as  impress  the  mind  with  generous  thoughts. 

In  the  main,  therefore,  these  stories  must  be  se- 
lected from  the  narrow  field  of  exploration  and  first 
settlement,  before  society  had  assumed  complex  forms, 
while  commerce,  manner  of  living,  and  government 
were  still  in  their  simplest  beginnings.  In  any  given 
part  of  the  country,  as  in  Massachusetts  or  California, 
the  period  of  exploration  and  pioneer  life  was  brief, 
but  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  and  of  North 
America  as  a  whole  it  has  lasted  from  the  time  of 
Columbus  down  almost  to  the  present.  In  all  its 
stages  it  has  been  a  period  of  hardship  and  danger, 
calling  out  the  most  adventurous  spirits  and  putting 
men  of  large  physical  and  moral  calibre  under  the  ne- 
cessity of  exhibiting  in  bold  relief  their  individual 
traits.  Such  men  were  La  Salle,  Boone,  Penn,  Clarke, 
and  Lincoln. 

No  other  country  has  had  such  a  pioneer  history, 
such  a  race  of  men  as  the  early  Friends,  the  Virgin- 
ians, the  Puritans,  the  French,  the  Scotch-Irish,  push- 
ing westward  to  subdue  and  civilize  a  continent.  The 
early  history  of  England,  Germany,  or  Italy,  is  hid  in 
myth  or  savage  warfare.  The  Spanish  explorers  and 
conquerors  of  the  New  World  teach  us  mostly  lessons 
of  cruelty,  rapine,  and  inordinate  love  of  gold.  They 
serve  as  warning  rather  than  as  example.  But 
the  best  nations  of  Europe  were  sifted  by  persecution 
in  order  to  find  seed  fit  for  the  plantingof  those  coloi 
from  which  the  United  States  derive  their  traditions. 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  57 

There  is  scarcely  one  of  our  states  whose  early  history 
is  not  connected  with  the  stirring  deeds  of  one  or  more 
of  these  noted  pioneers.  No  matter  in  what  part  of 
the  country  a  child  may  be  born  and  raised,  he  may 
meet  the  best  spirit  of  our  history  in  the  early  biogra- 
phies of  his  own  state. 

Fortunate  is  that  land  whose  early  history  is  so 
full  of  profitable  lessons,  for  there  is  no  part  of  its  an- 
nals that  is  destined  to  have  such  a  telling  influ- 
ence upon  its  rising  children.  If  the  Romans,  by 
studying  their  ancestral  and  traditional  history,  could 
train  up  such  men  as  Cincinnatus,  Regulus,  and  the 
Scipios,  how  important  to  nurture  our  children  upon 
the  strong  and  sinewy  example  of  Washington,  Rob- 
ertson, Champlain,  and  Fremont.  For  moral  educative  > 
purposes,  there  is  no  history  so  valuable  as  the  biogra- 
phies of  our  sturdy  pioneers. 

In  the  use  of  these  stories  we  follow  no  strict 
chronological  order,  but  select  according  to  the  sim- 
plicity and  interest  of  the  story,  and  from  the  best  pi- 
oneer biographies  of  our  own  and  of  surrounding 
states.  We  have  divided  these  stories  into  two  series: 
first,  those  illustrating  the  early  history  and  explora- 
tion of  different  sections  of  the  Mississippi  valley; 
second,  narratives  of  the  lives  of  New  England  and 
other  eastern  states,  together  with  two  or  three 
stories  of  California  and  the  extreme  west,  and  the  bi- 
ographies of  four  or  five  of  the  great  ocean  navigators. 

For  those  children  living  in  the  Mississippi  valley, 
it  will  be  natural  and  appropriate  to  make  use  of  the 


58  Special  Method. 

stories  belonging  to  that  region;  that  is,  the  first  se- 
ries, in  the  fourth  grade.  In  the  fifth  grade,  the  second 
series  will  extend  and  complete  the  great  pioneer  epoch 
of  our  history. 

FIRST  SERIES. 
Stories  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  for  Fourth  Grade. 

1.  Lincoln. — Early  life  and  surroundings  in  Ken- 
tucky, Indiana,  and  Illinois.     Poor  farm  boy.     Going 
down    the    Mississippi    in    a   flat-boat.      Reading   and 
study.     The  Black  Hawk  War. 

2.  Joliet  and  Marquette. — First  discovery  of   the 
Upper  Mississippi  and  journey   upon  it.       Marquette 
and  the  Illinois  Indians. 

3.  Lor  Salle. — Settlement  at  La  Chine.      Expedi- 
tion to  Fort  Frontinac,  Niagara.      The  building  of  the 
Griffin  and  its  trip  up  the  lakes.      From  St.  Joseph  to 
the  Illinois  and  Peoria.    The  fur-trade.  War  in  Illinois. 
The  confederacy. 

1.  Jlennepin. — Exploration  of  the  Upper  Missis- 
sippi. Capture  of  Hennepin  by  the  warlike  Sioux. 
His  hardships  and  escape. 

5.  George  Rogers   Clark. — Life  among  the   Ken- 
tucky   backwoodsmen.        Indian     outrages    from     the 
northwest.      Plan  to  capture  Kaskaskia  and  Vineen  nes. 
Descent  of  the  Ohio  from  Pittsburg  with  a  small  army. 
Hardship  and  energy.     Capture  of  Kaskaskia.     Tr 
ing  with  the  Indians,      rapture  of  Vineennes. 

6.  Boone. — Crossing   the  mountains   from   North 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  59 

Carolina.  Laying  out  a  road.  Boonesborough.  Cap- 
ture by  the  Indians.  Life  among  them  and  escape. 
The  defense  of  Boonesborough.  Simon  Kenton,  the 
friend  of  Boone. 

7.  Robertson. — Settlement  at  Watauga.      Visit  to 
hostile  Indians.     Overland  journey  to  the  Cumberland. 
Journey  in  boats  down  the  Tennessee  and  up  the  Cum- 
berland to  Nashville.      Dangers  and  exploits. 

8.  Marietta  and  Cincinnati.  — First  pioneers  across 
the  Alleghanies  and  down  the  Ohio.      The  fort  at  Mari- 
etta.    First  settlers  of  Cincinnati.     Troubles  with  the 
Indians. 

9.  The  Sioux  Massacre. — Bad    treatment   of    In- 
dians  by   the   whites.      Indian   secrecy   and   revenge. 
Flight  of  fugitives  from  the  Minnesota  valley.     Pun- 
ishment of  the  Indians. 

10.  Lewis    and    Clark. — Voyage  up  the   Missouri 
river.      Crossing  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  return. 

11.  Fremont. — Fort     Laramie.         South     Pass. 
Climbing  Fremont's  Peak.     Passing  the  Canon  of  the 
Piatte. 

12. — ^La  Salle. —  Voyage  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  and  return.  Fort  St.  Louis  on  Starved 
Rock.  Voyage  from  France  and  death. 

13.  De  Soto. — Voyage  from  Cuba.  Capture  of  an 
Indian  village.  Wading  the  swamps.  Fights  with 
the  Indians.  Discovery  of  the  Mississippi.  Wander- 
ings west  of  it.  Death. 


60  Special  Method. 

SECOND  SERIES. 

1.  Columbus. — Youth.        Study     of     maps    and 
charts.     Before  the  courts    of    Spain   and    Portugal. 
First  voyage.      His  disappointments. 

2.  Magellan. — Journey  round  the  world. 

3.  Henry      Hudson. — Voyages.       Trip     up    the 
Hudson. 

4.  Raleigh. — Early  life.     Attempts  to  settle  Vir- 
ginia.     Imprisonment  and  death. 

5.  Drake. — Voyage  of   plunder.      In   California. 
Crossing  the  Pacific.      Reception  at  home. 

6.  Champlain.     Explorations.      The  Iroquois. 

7.  John  Smith. — Exploring  Virginia.      Capture 
and  adventures  with  the  Indians.    Smith  as  governor. 

8.  William  Penn. — Becoming  a  Quaker.      Plans 
of  settlement.     Treatment  of  Indians. 

9.  Peter  Stuyv&ant. — Governor  of  New  York. 

10.  James  Oglethorpe. — Prisoners  for  debt.     Gov- 
ernor of  Georgia. 

11.  The    First    Lord    Baltimore. — Persecution  of 
Catholics. 

12.  Washington.  —  Early    life    up    to  Braddock's 
defeat. 

13.  Fremont. — Exploring     Salt     Lake     and    the 
Great  Basin.     Crossing  the  Sierra  Nevada  in  winter. 

14.  Crossing  the    plains    and    mountains   to  Cal- 
ifornia in  '79. 

15.  Pilgrims  and  Puritans. 

In  departing  so  widely  from  usage  as  to  make 


Pioneer  History    Stories.  61 

ular  instruction  in  historical  topics  apart  of  the  school 
work  from  the  fourth  grade  on,  we  assume  the  value 
of  historical  studies  in  general.  Their  value  for  in- 
struction and  for  morals  was  discussed  in  the  '.'General 
Method."  But  we  now  feel  called  upon  to  justify  this 
choice  of  materials  from  our  own  history  for  fourth 
and  fifth  grades. 

In  the  first  case,  does  this  part  of  our  history  fur- 
nish materials  that  are  adapted  to  the  understanding 
and  interest  of  children  of  this  grade  ?  We  are  all 
aware  that  biography  is  the  most  interesting  form  of 
history,  especially  for  children.  Now  that  kind  of  bi- 
ography that  appeals  most  strongly  to  children  of  from 
ten  to  twelve  years  is  that  which  is  cast  in  the  heroic 
mold.  Not  the  lives  of  orators,  scientists,  or  even  of 
statesmen,  but  of  simple  heroes,  of  men  who  have  shown 
power  and  skill  and  goodness  in  an  age  when  men 
battled  single-handed  or  in  small  numbers  against  sur- 
rounding dangers. 

So  far  as  the  schools  are  concerned  the  fact  has 
been  too  much  overlooked  that  we  have  in  our  own  his- 
tory a  heroic  epoch  of  surprising  interest.  A  collec- 
tion of  the  best  pioneer  biographies  of  our  country 
would  be  remarkably  rich  in  stirring  events,  in  deeds 
of  fortitude  and  nobility  which  are  destined  to  thrill 
the  future  with  their  moral  worth.  Many  of  the  best 
episodes  of  our  history  are  as  yet  entirely  unknown  to 
our  children;  for  example,  the  watchfulness  and  re- 
source of  Robertson  during  the  Indian  troubles  about 
Nashville  and  the  boldness  of  Gfeorge  Rogers  Clark  at 


62  Special  Method. 

Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes.  These  stories  are  simple, 
biographical,  interesting,  and  true  to  life.  There  is 
an  era  in  child  life  where  they  take  to  the  pioneer 
stories.  fc  At  this  time  these  stirring,  true  stories  of 
strong  men  and  women,  of  difficult  enterprises,  are 
able  to  awaken  the  deep  and  permanent  interest  of 
children.  For  they  have  the  ring  of  true  metal  in 
them  that  will  pass  current  with  all  men  in  all  ages. 
Our  history,  which  is  so  rich  in  inspiring  educative 
materials,  has  consisted  too  much,  heretofore,  in  the 
study  of  skeleton  outlines,  in  a  memorizing  of  impor- 
tant events  and  of  chronological  tables.  This  has  often 
tended  to  dull  the  interest  in  history  or  even  to  create 
a  distaste  for  it.  There  is  no  reason  why  children  in 
their  earlier  years  should  not  come  in  contact,  not  with 
a  barren  statement  of  important  facts,  but  with  the 
personal  deeds  of  men  of  energy  and  virtue.  They  see 
these  men  in  action  and  are  strongly  stimulated  by  their 
conduct.  The  pioneer  stories  approach  our  history 
from  its  most  attractive  side,  presenting  detailed  bio- 
graphical pictures.  They  not  only  interest  for  the 
time  being,  but  create  an  inclination  toward  the  study 
of  our  leading  men  and  of  important  events  in  the  for- 
mative period  of  our  history. 

History  stories  have  been  introduced  into  our 
schools  in  recent  years,  but  they  are  usually  too  brief 
and  didactic.  A  good  story  should  claim  a  child's  in- 
terest from  its  own  inherent  merit.  By  beginning 
early  with  detailed  and  interesting  biographies,  we 
touch  the  heart  of  the  child.  In  the  regular  teaching 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  63 

of  history  the  tendency  has  been  overwhelming  toward 
a  condensed  statement  of  the  great  events  of  our  na- 
tional life.  There  has  been  much  faith  in  the  power 
of  the  mind  to  assimilate  the  generalizations  boiled 
down  into  our  brief  compendiums  of  history.  Even 
the  children's  histories,  in  biographical  form,  have 
been  more  anxious  to  load  up  with  important  facts 
than  to  tell  a  good  story.  We  have  much  to  learn  in 
teaching  history  to  children.  It  is  no  more  true  here 
than  in  natural  science  that  the  mind  can  dispense  with 
the  concrete,  interesting  facts,  the  details  from  which 
general  statements  have  been  inferred.  By  taking 
history  in  its  simple  biographical  details  we  shall 
gather  the  best  materials  and  insure  a  strong  interets. 
In  the  second  place,  besides  securing  a  strong  and 
lasting  interest,  they  are  instructive  in  a  double  sense. 
The  study  of  pioneer  life  in  these  concrete  forms 
throws  into  dark  relief  the  difficulties  in  a  primitive 
society  of  overcoming  the  obstacles  in  nature.  In  our 
present  condition  of  society  it  is  difficult  for  us  to 
realize  what  toil  and  effort  have  been  expended  in  se- 
curing our  common  blessings,  e.  </. ,  roads  and  bridges, 
tools  and  machines,  houses  and  schools,  security  from 
violence.  Pioneer  life  reveals  with  great  distinctness 
the  intense  difficulties  which  beset  men  in  the  earliest 
stages  of  that  growth  upward  into  our  present  civili- 
zation when  the  most  necessary  things  as  food,  ammu- 
nition, medicine,  and  tools  were  very  hard  to  obtain. 
Many  of  the  children,  even  of  the  common  people, 
have  such  an  easy  abundance  of  all  good  things  that 


64  Special   Method. 

they  do  not  dream  of  the  toil  that  these  things  cost. 
With  the  growth  of  city  population  and  luxury,  with 
hundreds  of  boys  and  girls  whose  sole  aim  is  amuse- 
ment, it  is  well  to  return  in  thought  at  least  to  the 
simple,  primitive  hardships  of  our  grandparents. 

We  desire  also  to  secure  an  appreciative  insight 
into  the  social,  economic,  and  political  society  in  which 
we  now  live.  Children  cannot  understand  this  in  its 
present  complexity.  Going  back,  however,  to  a  simple, 
social  state,  they  may  more  easily  see  the  chief  ele- 
ments. One  of  the  greatest  lessons  of  history  is  to 
discover  how,  out  of  simple  early  conditions,  step  by 
step,  our  present  socie'ty  and  government  have  grown. 
There  is  no  place  where  the  simple  foundations  upon 
which  the  Americans  have  built  their  institutions  are 
seen  with  such  clearness  as  in  pioneer  life.  It  is  one 
of  the  important  aims  of  education  to  secure  an  appre- 
ciative understanding  of  the  complex  world  in  \vhk-h 
we  find  ourselves.  We  study  and  observe  the  present, 
but  it  is  in  the  past  that  we  find  the  key  to  its  inter- 
pretation. 

While  this  kind  of  pioneer  history  does  not  aim 
to  give  us  a  comprehensive  view  of  the   great   e\. 
and  movements  in  our  national   life,  it  does  present, 
with  great  distinctness,  a  few  important  events   that 
have  had  a  formative  influence  \ipon  all  our  later  his- 
tory, e.  (/. ,  the  efforts  of  the  French  to  get  possession 
of  the   St.    Lawrence  and  of    the   Mississippi   valley. 
later,  the  conflict  between  the   British   and   the    Ken 
tuekyans   for   the    Ohio    and    Mississippi   valley*,    the 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  (55 

claims  based  upon  the  discoveries  and  explorations  of 
the  ocean  pioneers,  Columbus,  Raleigh,  Hudson,  etc. 
Again,  the  important  Indian  tribes  and  confederacies 
are  distinctively  given,  and  their  influence  upon  the 
trend  of  settlement.  Some  of  the  great  characters  of 
our  annals,  about  which  the  memory  loves  to  linger, 
men  who  stood  for  great  and  lasting  achievements,  are 
not  only  clearly  pointed  out,  but  illustrated  with 
sufficient  detail  as  to  give  the  colors  of  real  life. 

This  leads  us  to  our  third  point.  Is  the  moral 
benefit  of  a  proper  teaching  of  these  materials  clear 
antl  positive?  To  simply  name  a  few  of  the  men  is  al- 
most sufficient  answer.  Columbus,  Raleigh,  La  Salle, 
Penn,  Marquette,  Washington,  Lincoln.  The  deeds 
and  character  which  these  names  suggest  are  what  we 
desire  to  see  emulated  among  the  youth.  As  a  means 
of  moral  education,  the  history  of  pioneer  life  is  offered 
with  great  confidence.  Moral  impulses  and  disposi- 
tions are  cultivated  by  giving  the  ripening  mind  of 
the  child  a  chance  to  admire  and  approve  right  actions 
in  others.  These  biographies  are  designed,  in  short, 
as  a  series  of  object  lessons  in  character  and  morals. 
In  studying  the  lives  of  men  we  pass  moral  judgments, 
and  pass  them  with  fervor.  The  feelings  and  incen- 
tives aroused  (especially  if  their  daily  practical  bear- 
ings are  kept  in  mind)  pass  over  into  moral  convictions 
which  influence  our  later  actions.  By  a  good  selection 
of  intrinsically  valuable  history  stories,  which  create 
a  strong  personal  interest,  it  is  possible,  under  good 
instruction,  to  exert  a  direct  moral  influence  in"  the 
formation  of  character  in  pupils. 


(it;  Special  Method. 

METHOD    OF    TREATING    HISTORY   STORIES    IN    FOURTH   AND 
FIFTH  GRADES.      ORAL  PRESENTATION  AND   ITS  VALUE. 

Let  it  be  assumed  that  we  have  found  out  what 
parts  of  American  biography  and  history  are  best 
suited  to  instruct  and  stimulate  children  in  these 
grades.  We  are  to  consider  next  in  what  manner  the 
children  may  best  get  at  and  appreciate  these  stories. 
Would  it  be  possible  to  leave  them  entirely  to  the 
home  and  extra-school  occupations  of  the  pupils?  Are 
they  likely,  without  school  aid,  to  find  the  choicest 
episodes  in  our  history;  and,  having  found  them,  will 
they,  unaided,  get  into  the  life  and  spirit  of  the  men 
about  whom  they  read?  Or,  again,  supposing  that 
these  materials  are  furnished  to  children  in  supple- 
mentary readers,  or  even  in  school  histories,  to  be 
learned  and  recited,  can  we  count  upon  the  right  kind 
of  results?  First,  there  are  very  few  books  touch i no- 
American  biography  or  history  which  can  be  e;; 
read  by  the  children  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  grades. 
Their  average  reading  capacity  is  considerably  limited. 
They  can  understand  many  things  presented  to  them 
orally  which  they  would  appropriate  with  difficulty  in 
a  printed  form.  T]^r  power  to  Ihink.  reason,  and 
understand  is  much  greater  than  their  readiness  to 
grasp  thought  from  the  printed  pagef  It  is  certainly 
desirable  to  induce  children  to  read-  biography  and 
history  and  to  cultivate  a  taste  for  them  as  soon  as 
they  have  the  ability  and  inclination.  But  av< 
children  do  not  drink  much  from  this  fountain  unless 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  67 

they  have  acquired  some  taste  for  its  waters.  The 
oral  treatment  of  these  stories,  when  the  personal  in- 
terest, energy,  and  skill  of  the  teacher  give  the  facts 
•and  scenes  an  almost  real  and  tangible  form — this  oral 
treatment  is  the  thing  and  the  only  thing  to  give  a 
child  £he  best  start  in  historical  study.  There  are 
doubtless  a  few  bright  children  in  every  school  who 
will  browse  for  themselves  if  only  the  suitable  books 
are  put  before  them.  But  even  these  brighter  minds 
are  apt  to  become  slovenly  readers  if  left  without 
training  in  the  power  to  realize  and  objectify  the 
things  read.  We  have  in  mind,  however,  not  the  ex- 
ceptional few,  but  the  great  body  of  school  children, 
and  wish  to  determine  what  history  can  do  to 
strengthen  their  characters  and  stir  up  vigorous 
thought. 

A  story  becomes  more  graphic,  interesting,  real- 
istic, in  the  hands  of  a  good  teacher.  Not  only  are 
his  descriptions  more  animated,  picturesque,  colloquial, 
adapting  themselves  to  the  faces,  moods,  and  varied 
thoughts  and  suggestions  of  the  pupils,  but  there  can 
be  a  discussion  of  causes  by  pupils  and  teacher,  a 
weighing  of  probabilities,  a  use  of  the  blackboard  for 
graphic  drawing  or  diagram,  a  variety  of  homely  illus- 
trations, an  appeal  to  the  children's  previous  experi- 
ence and  reading  such  as  is  impossible  in  the  mere 
memorizing  of  a  book. 

No  author,  however  talented  or  fertile  in  lan- 
guage, can  supply  what  the  interest,  resource,  and 
skill  of  a  good  teacher  bring  to  the  recitation. 


68  Special  Method. 

Any  doubts  on  the  parts  of  pupils  can  be  solved,  any 
misconceptions  corrected,  when  the  pupils  take  up  the 
oral  reproduction  of  the  stories. 

Where  geography  is  involved,  maps  and  sketches 
can  be  discussed  in  such  a  vivid  and  casual  way  as  to 
make  the  situation  and  the  difficulties  clear  to  the  eye. 
Where  persons  and  scenes  are  presented,  pictures  may 
often  greatly  aid  the  verbal  descriptions.  Compari- 
sons with  home  objects,  in  regard  to  size  or  resem- 
blance in  form,  give  greater  precision  and  reality  to 
the  thought  products. 

In  history  the  oral  presentation  largely  takes  the 
place  of  the  object  in  natural  science  studies.  We  de- 
sire to  draw  so  near  to  historical  persons,  scenes,  or 
occasions  as  to  stand  in  their  presence,  to  so  exercise 
the  imagination  as  to  become  the  eye-witnesses  of  the 
facts.  It  is  impossible  to  reproduce  history  except 
through  the  imagination. 

When  a  person  has  read  a  play  of  Shakespeare 
under  the  suggestion  and  stimulus  of  a  thoughtful  ad- 
mirer of  the  great  poet,  he  will  read  all  other  plays 
with  improved  judgment  and  appreciation.  When  a 
child  has  learned  how  to  interpret  one  history  story 
through  the  aid  of  an  enthusiastic  teacher  he  will  read 
other  history  stories  with  better  understanding.  A 
course  of  oral  lessons  in  a  series  of  American  history 
episodes  and  biographies  is  a  preparation  for  a  later 
study  of  history  in  a  double  sense.  A  keen  and  abid- 
ing interest  is  awakened  in  a  few  of  our  stanchest 
men.  A  deeper  and  more  practical  realization  of  the 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  f>9 

difficulties  and  hardships  of  these  men  and  of  their 
physical  environment  is  secured.  If  we  are  to  realize 
the  significance  of  history  and  of  men's  conduct  as 
there  expressed,  we  must  see  and  feel  their  dangers, 
trials,  and  physical  limitations.  The  simple  memor- 
izing of  facts  and  descriptions  from  text-books  mani- 
festly falls  far  short  of  true  history  study.  How  far  a 
good  teacher  may  supplement,  criticise,  and  energize 
the  facts  of  a  text-book  so  as  to  give  them  actuality 
may  be  fairly  asked.  But  even  before  any  text-book 
is  or  can  be  used,  we  may  get  at  the  soul  of  the  matter 
through  a  direct  personal  presentation  of  stories  by 
the  teacher  and  in  the  midst  of  a  running  fire  of  ques- 
tions, suggestion  and  reasoning  at  causes  which  both 
stimulate  interest  and  thought,  and  give  a  strong  tone 
of  reality  to  the  events  discussed. 

THE  METHOD  OF  ORAL  PRESENTATION. 

We  have  called  for  a  vivid  and  realistic  presenta- 
tion of  a  narrative  and  its  setting  by  the  teacher. 

In  one  sense  this  is  a  heavy  demand  upon 
teachers,  and  one  to  which  they  are  not  much  accus- 
tomed to  respond.  Skill,  facility,  and  tact  in  this  line 
of  exertion  are  acquired  by  most  teachers  slowly.  It 
seems,  however,  to  be  a  misapprehension  to  suppose 
that  only  the  gifted  few  are  capable  of  this  kind  of 
success.  Those  who  are  slow  an~d  halting  in  speech, 
or  who  have  no  "gift  of  gab,"  may  be  eminently  suc- 
cessful. In  truth  one  of  the  first  and  most  important  re- 
quirements of  a  teacher  in  successful  story  telling  is  to 


70  Special  Method. 

hold  his  tongue.  He  must,  however,  acquire  skill  in 
making  facts  and  situations  vivid  to  children.  He 
must  possess  the  magic  wand  which  touches  their 
imaginations  so  that  they  construct  pictures  that 
approximate  the  distinctness  of  reality.  First,  the 
teacher  himself  must  possess  feeling  and  imagination ; 
he  must  see  things  with  great  distinctness  and  detail 
and  he  must  find  homely  phrases,  striking  or  amusing 
analogies,  gestures,  and  facial  expression.  Graphic 
sketches  and  outlines  on  the  blackboard  must  be  at 
his  disposal.  He  must  learn  to  exercise  all  his  facul- 
ties with  great  freedom  before  a  class.  He  must  be 
quick  in  sympathy  and  ready  to  interpret  a  child's 
question  or  remarks.  The  previous  knowledge  of 
children,  their  home  experiences,  as  well  as  facts 
remembered  from  books,  must  be  called  out  in  elucida- 
tion of  the  topic  under  discussion.  But  it  is  necessary 
to  use  these  materials  without  allowing  either  teacher 
or  pupils  to  be  drawn  aside  from  the  main  topic.  The 
intelligent  judgment  and  self-activity  of  pupils  should 
be  exercised  at  every  turn  in  the  story.  They  arc 
stimulated  by  questions  as  to  facts,  causes,  probable 
sequence,  reasons. 

A  particular  kind  of  preparation  for  such  oral 
lessons  rendered  obligatory  by  the  whole  character  of 
the  work  is  the  clear  and  definite  arrangement  of  t hi- 
story into  a  series  of  topics.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  read 
the  story  through  carefully  so  as  to  get  a  clear 
sequence  of  events  and  a  memory  for  the  facts.  The 
teacher's  mind  should  cast  the  story  into  a  serie 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  71 

unities  or  topics,  each  of  which  has  a  nucleus  or  cen- 
ter with  a  body  of  related  facts  which  find  their  cause 
and  explanation  in  this  center.  Each  topic  is  pro- 
jected as  a  unit  in  the  mind  of  the  teacher.  It  should 
be  an  essential  link  in  a  chain  of  important  sequences. 
In  the  recitation  each  topic  should  be  mastered  before 
proceeding  to  what  follows.  As  each  topic  is  pre- 
sented by  the  teacher  and  reproduced  by  the  pupil,  a 
brief  outline  may  be  kept  on  the  board  of  the  topics 
discussed,  and  this  outline  becomes  the  basis  of  all 
reproductions  after  the  whole  subject  has  been  pre- 
sented. 

This  power  to  get  at  the  essential  segments,  or 
the  pivotal  points  in  a  story  is  an  excellent  logical 

training  for  the  teacher >He  must  see  a  series  of 

events  in  their  essential  aspects,  in  their  casual  rela- 
tion, and  in  their  relative  importance.  Such  a  careful 
analysis  of  a  story  into  clearly  distinct  topics  calls  for 
a  thoughtful  digestion  of  the  materials,  which  goes  far 
toward  a  pedagogical  mastery  of  a  subject  for  teaching 
purposes.  A  teacher  must  learn  to  be  thoughtful, 
logical,  and  clear-headed. 

But  if  the  teacher  has  learned  to  think  sensibly 
and  organize  his  lesson  into  prominent  headings 
which  will  stand  a  close  logical  test,  it  is  clear  that  the 
children  will  be  trained  into  logical  and  rational  modes 
of  thinking  and  study.  Children  will  learn  to  do  more 
than  simply  memorize.  They  learn  to  estimate  and 
judge  the  value  pf  the  points  discussed,  to  discriminate 
between  the  important  and  secondary  facts,  to  notice 
the  proper  relations  and  groupings  of  facts. 


72  Special  Method. 

This  series  of  topics  upon  which  we  have  laid  such 
stress  should  be  expressed  on  the  blackboard  in  the 
form  of  suitable  words,  phrases,  or  short  sentences. 
After  a  topic  has  been  fully  presented  by  a  teacher,  it 
is  often  well  to  ask  the  children  for  a  brief  phrase 
which  suggests  the  gist  of  the  matter.  Some  expres- 
sion furnished  by  the  pupils  may  serve  for  the  head- 
ing, or  it  may  be  modified,  to  give  a  more  definite  and 
exact  form. 

THE    REPRODUCTION    BY    THE    PUPILS. 

When  the  teacher  has  done  his  full  duty  in  a  vig- 
orous and  clear -presentation  of  the  facts  in  a  topic,  his 
next  duty  lies  in  devolving  the  work  of  reproduction 
upon  the  children.  It  is  for  the  pupils  now  to  show 
how  attentive  they  have  been  and  how  fully  they  can 
recall  and  express  the  ideas  already  presented.  Let 
the  teacher  firmly  decline  to  do  the  pupil's  part  of  the 
work.  Let  him  not  pump  answers  from  the  children. 
The  briefest  possible  questions  or  corrections  orcli* 
or  signs  of  approval  are  all  that  is  needed.  Brevity 
and  silence  are  the  teacher's  chief  merits  at  this  stage 
of  the  work. 

The  topic  should  generally  be  reproduced  more 
than  once;  at  first,  perhaps,  by  one  of  the  readier 
pupils,  and  then  by  two  or  three  others.  The  chil- 
dren's reproductions  will  show  misconceptions  that 
must  be  corrected  by  other  pupils  or  by  the  teacher. 
Still  further  explanations  may  be  given  by  the  teacher 
after  the  child's  work  is  finished.  We  can  not  be 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  73 

isfied  with  anything  short  of  a  thorough  appropriation 
of  the  facts  as  at  first  presented.  It  will  pay  to  stick 
to  one  tornc  till  the  victory  is  complete.  The  children 
have  no  books  to  study  and  if  they  ever  get  the  facts 
they  must  do  it  now.  The  welding  must  take  place 
while  the  iron  is  hot  or  it  will  never  be  done.  Close 
attention  is  indispensable  in  this  work,  and  if  it  can  be 
first  secured  by  the  teacher  in  the  class-room,  its  effects 
will  be  felt  in  their  home  and  private  studies.  If  chil- 
dren dawdle  when  studying  at  home  it  is  partly  be- 
cause they  are  allowed  to  dawdle  during  recitations  at 
school. 

One  of  the  incidental  advantages  that  spring  from 
oral  presentation  and  reproduction  of  history  stories 
is  a  straightforward,  forcible_use  of  good  English.  But 
many  corrections  of  faulty  words  and  phrases  are  made 
necessary.  These  corrections  may  be  made  quietly  by 
the  teacher  without  seriously  interrupting  the  pupil's 
course  of  thought.  Our  primary^aim,  however,  is  not 
language  drill,  but  the  culture  that  lies  in  history. 

After  a  series  rof  topics  has  been  worked  out. with 
alternate  presentation  and  reproduction,  it  is  in  place 
to  call  for  a  full  narration  of  the  whole  subject  by  one 
or  more  pupils.  The  brief  outline  on  the  board  ought 
to  be  sufficient  to  %uide  the  pupil  without  questions 
from  the  instructor.  Success  in  this  reproduction  is 
a  final  test  of  the  mastery  of  the  story.  The  topics 
presented  one  day,  however,  should  be  reviewed  the 
next  by  the  students,  and  this  repetition  continued  till 
the  mastery  is  felt  to  be  satisfactory. 


74  Special  Method. 

The  children  should  keep  a  blank  book,  such  as  an 
ordinary  composition  book,  into  which  the  outlines  de- 
veloped may  be  copied  by  the  children  once  or  twice  a 
week.  It  should  be  done  in  ink,  with  great  neatness 
and  care,  and  these  outlines  may  serve  well,  at  the 
close  of  the  term,  for  the  final  review  and  reproduction. 

DIFFICULTIES. 

There  are  several  difficulties  in  the  way  of  satis- 
factory oral  work  of  the  kind  described  which  prevent 
practical  teachers  from  undertaking  it: 

1.  In  the  training  of  our  teachers  not  much  care 
is  taken  to  acquire  the  ability  to  present  a  subject  well 
to  a  class.  It  is  an  art  difficult  to  acquire  in  many 
cases  and  not  generally  regarded  as  valuable.  The 
function  of  the  teacher  has  been  found  in  ^x ////»'"// 
and  testing  rather  than  in  the  presentation  of  knowl- 
edge. 

The  idea,  that  children  are  to  do  everything  for 
themselves  through  their  own  activity,  has  been 
brought  in  successfully  to  support  our  common  method 
of  recitation.  The  ridicule  heaped  upon  the  '-pouring 
in"  and  "drawing  out"  process  has  also  confirmed  us 
in  the  belief  that  our  common  recitation  method  is. 
after  all,  the  best. 

An  oral  method  of  teaching  is  liable  to  get  all 
because  it  is  really  a  difficult  art.     But  it  is    reason- 
able for  us  to  raise  the  question  whether  a  t earlier,  in 
declining  to  treat  certain   subjects   orally    which    are 
best  adapted  to  it,   is  not  consulting  his   convenience 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  75 

and  laziness  rather  than  the  rules  of  his  art.  If  a 
teacher  does  not  know  a  subject  well  enough  to  pre- 
sent it  in  a  clear  and  interesting  way  to  his  class,  he 
does  not  know  it  as  well  as  a  teacher  should.  He  has 
not  thoroughly  assimilated  it  and  organized  it  in  his 
own  mind.  The  teacher  who  is  called  upon  to  present 
a  lesson  to  a  class  will  master  it  in  a  more  effective 
way  than  the  mere  hearer  of  recitations.  He  will  also 
seek  to  adapt  his  facts  to  the  minds  of  the  class  and 
make  them  interesting  by  means  of  drawings  or  illus- 
trations and  other  devices.  It  is  an  admitted  fact  that 
children  in  our  intermediate  and  grammar  grades  in 
town  schools  have  very  little  self-reliance  or  thought- 
fulness.  They  are  overwhelmingly  inclined  to  me- 
chanical methods  of  work,  memorizing  phrases  in 
arithmetic,  geography,  and  grammar.  After  an  infi- 
nite amount  of  talking  about  self-reliance  and  self-ac- 
tivity, children  become  neither  self-reliant  nor  self- 
active.  Such  terms  as  self-activity  and  self-reliance 
may  be  bandied  about  among  teachers  forever  but  they 
will  not  save  us  from  the  inherent  weaknesses  of  me- 
chanical methods  in  teaching.  What  we  need  is  more 
energy,  spirit,  and  interest  in  the  subjects,  both  among 
teachers  and  pupils.  Will  good  oral  teaching  help 
us  in  this  respect?  There  is  some  danger  that  our 
ideal  of  a  teacher  will  be  lowered  by  constantly  think- 
ing of  him  as  a  drill  master,  a  hearer  of  recitations,  a 
tester  of  acquired  facts.  The  best  thing  a  teacher  can 
do  is  to  stimulate.  If  his  own  mind  is  awake  and  aglow 
with  the  ideas  he  is  discussing  or  presenting,  the  chil- 


76  Special  Method. 

dren's  thoughts  will  kindle.  If  it  is  possible  to  put 
such  safeguards  around  oral  teaching  as  will  keep  it 
from  degenerating  into  talk,  we  shall  find  it  a  means 
of  stimulus. 

Clear,  vivid,  animated  presentation  of  ideas  to  a 
class,  though  difficult,  is  an  excellent  aim  for  teachers 
to  keep  in  view,  because  it  will  regenerate  their  school 
activity.  There  are,  of  course,  a  good  many  lessons 
in  arithmetic,  grammar,  and  reading  that  must  be 
learned  from  text-books.  To  these  our  remarks  apply 
but  indirectly.  In  geography,  history,  language,  and 
natural  science  there  are  lessons  in  plenty  that  call  for 
oral  treatment,  where  pupil  and  teacher  come  face  to 
face  in  the  discussion  of  facts. 

The  real  genesis  of  self-activity  and  power  to  think 
should  be  found  in  these  oral  lessons  where  the  in- 
structor can  adapt  his  explanations  and  questions  to 
the  individuals  of  his  class.  This  is  the  best  place  to 
find  out  what  is  in  a  boy,  and  to  bring  out  all  the  facts 
of  his  experience  in  the  search  for  causes. 

2.  Oral  teaching  calls  for  close  and  constant  At- 
tention from  all  members  of  a  class.  The  habit  of  in- 
attention formed  in  our  schools  reveals  one  of  the  i 
vulnerable  points  in  our  school  method.  There  is  a 
striking  difference  between  American  and  European 
schools  of  the  better  sort,  in  this  respect. 

An  exclusive  text-book  ttnth<»l  of  studying  and 
teaching  ^m/< r////// >x  attention  in  the  class-room.  The 
strongest  attention  is  required  in  learning  the  lr»on 
before  the  recitation,  but  the  class  period  is  eliaraeter- 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  77 

ized  by  general  looseness,  except  for  each  particular 
child  when  called  up  to  recite. 

An  oral  method  of  teaching  is  based  fundamentally 
upon  attention.  The  facts  must  be  acquired  in  the  class, 
or  not  at  all.  The  habits  of  attention  formed  at  school 
will  also  strengthen  the  children  in  home  study  and 
initiate  them  into  the  right  method  of  attention  and 
study.  In  reply  to  all  this,  it  may  be  truly  said  that  a 
vigorous  teacher  will  secure  attention  whether  teach- 
ing orally  or  from  a  text-book.  However  true  this 
may  be,  there  is  a  natural  tendency  to  laxity  in  a  text- 
book method,  while  the  necessity  for  close  attention  is 
much  more  apparent  in  an  oral  presentation  and  treat- 
ment. 

3.  It  is  difficult  to  get  teachers  to  properly  organ- 
ize an  oral  lesson  into  topics,  to  hold  a  clear,  logical 
outline  of  points,  and  to  make  this  outline  the  basis 
for  reproductions  and  later  reviews.     They  forget  to 
fix   the  chief  points  or  topics   as  they  go.     They  get 
over  the  ground,  but  neglect  to  stake  it  off  as  they  go, 
and  both  teacher  and  pupils  become  muddled.   Without 
a  clear  succession  of  distinct  topics  in  oral  lessons,  the 
work    becomes    hazy   and    scattering  and   the   results 
must  be  unsatisfactory.      Such  an  outline  is  indispen- 
sable if  oral  lessons   are  to  be  logical,   clear,    and  of 
permanent  value. 

4.  Time  is  wanting  for  such  oral  recitations  in  our 
present  school  programs.      But  programs  can  be  mod- 
ified.     We    have    general    lessons     before    the    whole 
school,  where  such  a  plan  is  already  used.     In  teach- 


78  Special  Method. 

ing  natural  science,  we  are  now  compelled  to  admit 
that  the  text-book  work  is  unsatisfactory.  Studies 
like  science  and  history,  in  the  intermediate  and  gram- 
mar grades,  should  not  take  full  time  five  periods  a 
week,  but  should  alternate.  Classes  can  be  combined 
for  oral  work  in  natural  science,  history,  and  geogra- 


The  general  tendency  of  oral  teaching  is  to  leave 
less  time  for  study  during  school  hours,  and  this  must 
be  provided  for. 

5.  One  of  the  chief  difficulties  that  stands  in  the 
way  of  good  oral  teaching  is  the  lack  of  materials  such 
as  a  teacher  can  use  for  oral  presentations. 

The  moment  a  teacher  begins  to  treat  a  subject 
orally,  he  calls  for  more  <tl>uii<1<int  and  detailed  mate- 
rials on  those  topics  than  our  text-books  furnish.  In 
geography,  history,  and  natural  science  he  goes  on  a 
skirmish  for  facts  that  have  more  meaning  than  the 
barren  statements  in  our  texts. 

This  is  true  in  the  history  stories.  We  need  fuller 
and  more  detailed  accounts  of  our  leading  pioneers. 
Quite  a  number  of  books  containing  history  stories 
for  children  have  been  published  of  late,  hut  most  of 
them  are  too  meager.  They  are  too  much  in  bondage 
to  the  old  text-book  idea  that  it  is  a  few  leading  facts 
that  we  Vant  instead  of  pictures  of  men  and  of  the 
times  taken  from  life. 

These  arc  sonic  of  the  ditVieulties  and  prejudicial 
customs  that  stand  in  the  way  of  oral  teachim: 

There  are  other   inherent  objections    that    arc   em- 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  79 

s 

phasized  by  our  experience.  Oral  teaching  has  been 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  fads.  It  had  its  day,  ran 
its  course,  and  passed  away  with  its  mistakes.  It 
brought  some  life  and  enthusiasm  into  school  work, 
but  was  barren  of  results.  It  wasted  time  in  fruitless 
discussions.  All  this  is  only  too  true,  and  if  oral 
teaching  were  now  introduced  among  us  on  a  large 
scale,  it  would  not  prove  satisfactory.  The  chief  diffi- 
culty lies  in  the  fact  that  the  great  majority  of  teach- 
ers are  poorly  equipped  for  their  work.  They  do  not 
know  enough  of  their  subjects,  and  their  knowledge 
is  not  organized  so  as  to  be  brought  into  presentable 
shape.  A  good  text-book  is  a  godsend  to  a  poorly 
equipped  teacher. 

But  there  is  a  growing  class  of  teachers  who  be- 
lieve in  their  profession  and  are  giving  it  their  best 
energy  for  life.  Oral  teaching  offers  to  such  a  ladder 
by  which  they  may  climb  up  to  higher  professional 
efficiency  and  success. 

There  is  also  at  present  a  strong  drift  toward  oral 
teaching  in  literature  and  natural  science.  All  ex- 
perts are  now  fairly  well  agreed  that  children  can 
not  get  their  knowledge  of  plants,  animals,  and  nat- 
ural phenomena  from  books.  Observation,  experi- 
ment, and  oral  discussion  are  the  only  available 
avenues  of  approach  to  the  natural  sciences.  If  these 
subjects  are  ever  properly  taught  in  our  schools  it 
must  be  done  without  text-books,  letting  teacher  and 
children  stand  face  to  face  with  the  facts. 

Parallel     with    the    effort    to    introduce    natural 


80  Special  Method. 

science  is  the  effort  to  get  our  best  literature  into  the 
lower  and  intermediate  grades.  But  first  grade  chil- 
dren can  not  read  fables  and  fairy  stories;  they  must 
hear  them.  Robinson  Crusoe  in  the  second  grade,  and 
mythical  stories  in  the  third,  are  best  presented  by 
the  living  voice  of  the  teacher.  There  is  no  such 
vivid  way  of  getting  the  best  classical  myths  and  his- 
torical stories  before  children  in  the  intermediate 
grades  as  by  oral  presentation. 


BOOKvS  FOR  FOURTH  AND  FIFTH  GRADES. 


1'ioneer  History  Storh-*.  McMurry.  Stories  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley;  First  Series.  Second  edition  to 
appear  soon.  Price,  50  cents.  Public-School  Pub- 
lishing Co. ,  Bloomington,  111. 

The  Making  "f  tin  Great  Wrut,  Drake.  It  deals 
with  pioneer  history  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Pub- 
lished by  Charles  Scribner  A:  Sons.  Price,  $1.7,"). 

STORIES    OF    THE    EAST. 

The  Making  oj  New  Kit  gin  ml,  Drake.  Karly  dis- 
coverers and  explorers  of  New  England.  Published 
by  Charles  Srribner  &  Sons.  Price,  $1.50. 

y<mng  Folk*  tt<>uk  of  American  Explorers.  In- 
teresting and  full  of  excellent  material.  Published  bv 
Lee  &  Shepard,  Boston.  Price  $1.50. 


Pioneer  History  Stories.  HI 

\ 

Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  Moore.  Excellent  de- 
scription of  the  first  years  in  Massachusetts.  Pub- 
lished by  Ginn  &  Co.  Price,  60  cents. 

Historical  Classic  Readings.  Ten  pamphlets  of 
60  pages  each.  Some  of  them  deal  with  the  pioneers, 
others  with  later  episodes  in  our  history.  Published 
by  Effingham  Maynard,  N.  Y. 


82  Special  Method. 


HISTOKY  IN  THE  SIXTH  GRADE. 


The  time  given  to  American  history  in  the  sixth 
grade  may  be  limited  to  two  or  three  hours  a  week 
and  should  be  centered  upon  a  few  striking  phases  of 
the  colonial  epoch  up  to  the  close  of  the  last  great 
French  and  Indian  War.  It  will  be  better  to  take  four 
or  five  of  the  leading  states  and  study  them  closely  than 
to  spend  the  same  time  upon  all  the  thirteen.  A  full 
and  picturesque  account  of  the  characteristic  epis 
of  a  few  colonies  will  produce  much  better  interest 
and  insight  into  our  early  history  than  the  effort  to 
stretch  one  drag-net  over  all  the  colonies  and  gather 
in  every  important  event.  We  need  to  pay  more  at- 
tention to  the  sympathetic  and  graphic  elements  in 
our  history.  We  must  get  far  enough  into  the  daily 
lives  and  struggles  of  the  colonists  to  feel  as  they  felt, 
appreciate  their  desires  and  hardships,  and  forget  our 
present  surroundings.  It  is  well  also  to  keep  to  the 
shady,  inviting,  biographical  walks,  where  personal 
actions  and  interests  serve  to  typify  and  illustrate 
the  life  of  communities.  It  is  easier  to  approach 
larger  social  and  political  affairs  through  the  liv. 
individuals  than  to  generalize  about  institutions  ami 
modes  of  life. 

A  complete  life  of  Benjamin  Franklin  may  acvom- 


History  in  the  Sixth   Grade.  83 

pany  the  study  of  this  epoch.  His  autobiography,  as 
adapted  to  schools  by  Ginn  &  Co.,  will  serve  our  pur- 
pose. His  life  is  contemporaneous  with  a  good  part 
of  the  colonial  epoch  and  his  personal  affairs  are  of  im- 
portance to  Massachusetts,  New  York,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  to  the  colonies  as  a  whole.  His  life  is  in 
many  respects  very  suitable  for  children  to  study. 
His  plain  good  sense,  his  economy  and  simplicity,  his 
energy  and  public  spirit,  are  excellent,  and  stimulate 
children  to  self-improvement  and  love  of  knowledge. 

The  work  of  the  sixth  grade  is  essentially  to 
observe  the  growth  of  small  arid  weak  settlements  into 
strong  and  vigorous  commonwealths,  with  waxing 
commercial,  economical,  and  political  interests.  But 
it  is  pedagogical  to  approach  the  life  of  communities 
through  the  knowledge  of  their  typical  representa- 
tives and  leaders.  Children  of  this  grade  are  not  yet 
old  enough  to  understand  or  to  interest  themselves 
much  in  purely  political  and  social  organization  and 
its  development.  It  is  safer  to  let  the  panorama  of 
history  unroll  before  them  in  a  few  important  typical 
scenes,  with  occasional  strong  glimpses  of  the  under- 
lying forces  which  are  formulating  themselves  into  the 
institutions  of  freedom.  In  working  up  to  a  clear  view 
of  the  leading  political  and  other  ideas  thtrTwere  ham- 
mered out  into  consistency  and  strength  during  the 
colonial  epoch,  we  should  keep  in  "sight  a  strong  fore- 
ground of  dramatic  incident  and  of  biographical  detail. 
These  furnish  the  concrete  materials  behind  which 
children  can  detect  and  trace  up  the  moving  causes. 


84  Special  Method. 

While  our  chief  purpose  in  this  grade  is  to  bring  out 
political  and  social  ideas,  the  lives  of  such  men  as 
Roger  Williams,  King  Philip,  Otis,  Andros,  Vane, 
Frontenac,  Wolfe,  and  Montcalm  still  stand  out  clearly 
at  important  crises  and  exemplify  the  chief  influences 
at  work. 

This  close  study  of  colonial  men  and  women  in  the 
forms  of  self-government  they  set  up,  in  their  family, 
religious,  and  social  life,  in  the  trying  circumstances  of 
famine  or  of  Indian  outrage — is  the  only  means  of  under- 
standing their  spirit  when  greater  struggles,  as  the 
Revolution,  come  on.  The  independent,  self-reliant 
spirit  of  the  Americans  in  the  northern,  middle,  and 
southern  colonies  should  be  seen  in  its  unvarnished 
strength,  as  prominently  brought  out  in  the  dealings 
with  royal  governors,  with  kings  and  parliaments,  as 
well  as  in  the  laborious  and  dangerous  work  of  explo- 
ration and  settlement.  So  simple  is  the  environment 
of  the  early  colonies  that,  if  approached  from  the  con- 
crete side,  sixth  grade  children  can  appreciate  not 
only  the  temper  of  the  people  but  their  methods  of 
local  government,  and  the  first  steps  toward  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  representative  system.  The  growth 
of  the  legislature  in  influence  and  its  gradual  division 
into  two  distinct  bodies  are  of  much  value  to  an  under- 
standing of  state  history  and  of  later  national  politics. 

The  acts  of  royal  governors  may  be  closely  ex- 
amined as  showing  wisdom  and  prudence,  or  tyranny 
and  selfishness.  The  prerogatives  assumed*  by  royal 
governors  and  the  rights  claimed  by  the  people  kept 


History  in  the  Sixth   Grade.  87> 

the  two  parties  in  almost  constant  conflict  and  gave  a 
vigorous  schooling  in  both  theoretical  and  practical 
politics.  This  study  is  an  excellent  training  for  young 
Americans  because  of  its  direct  moral  example  and 
warning,  and  as  a  preparation  for  the  exercise  of  po- 
litical rights  in  later  years,  in  judging  public  questions 
and  candidates  for  office.  The  comparison  of  the  po- 
litical life  and  constitutions  of  different  colonies  is  of 
much  interest  and  leads  to  some  striking  discoveries 
of  general  laws.  For  example,  in  spite  of  noticeable 
differences  in  religion,  race,  and  social  life,  the  colonies 
seem  to  develop  strikingly  similar  tendencies  toward 
independent  self-government.  They  develop  the  same 
self-reliance,  the  same  sturdy,  manly  independence, 
and  the  same  opposition  to  the  encroachments  of 
authority  in  the  northern,  middle,  and  southern  colo- 
nies. 

The  peculiar  industrial  conditions  and  occupations, 
the  social  practices  and  habits  of  living  in  each  im- 
portant colony,  may  be  grasped  from  vivid  life-like  por- 
trayal by  our  best  historians.  The  contrasts  between 
the  different  settlements  in  these  respects  bring  out 
fundamental  differences  which  have  lain  at  the  root  of 
the  most  difficult  problems  of  our  later  history.  Aris- 
tocracy, slavery,  and  plantation  life  in  the  South;  the 
trades,  fisheries,  ship-building,  and  small  farm  pro- 
prietors in  the  North,  are  a  few  of  the  deep-lying 
causes  in  our  history. 

The  attachment  to  the  local  state  government  is  very 
strong.       State  sovereignty  is  the  strongest  political 


86  Special  Method. 

idea.  It  is  well  for  children  to  feel  keenly  the  attach- 
ment of  the  Puritan  for  his  New  England  life,  town 
meeting,  church,  and  Yankee  prejudices.  It  is  well  to 
measure  the  strength  of  his  confidence  in  the  local  col- 
onial government  and  the  causes  for  it.  But  a  broader 
sympathy  and  allegiance  is  demanded  of  him  and  it  is 
only  slowly  that  he  feels  the  necessity  and  justice  of 
intercolonial  interest  and  helpfulness.  The  larger  re- 
lations of  the  colonies  to  each  other  and  to  the  Indians 
and  to  the  French  lead  up  to  the  idea  of  political  life 
and  patriotism  in  a  broader  sense.  It  is  important  to 
trace  the  growth  of  this  sentiment  through  the  colo- 
nial period.  The  natural  growth  of  the  country  makes 
union  a  necessity,  but  in  many  respects  the  states 
appear  to  grow  antagonistic  to  each  other.  In  all  our 
later  epochs  these  two  great  forces,  centripetal  and 
centrifugal,  have  been  formative  in  their  influence 

O         ' 

upon  our  institutions.      Our  constitution  is  found  I; 
to  be  an  instrument  to  put  in  balance  these  fcwo  active 
tendencies. 

The  story  of  the  great  conflict  between  France  and 
the  English-Americans  for  supremacy  in  North  Amer- 
ica is  the  most  dramatic  phase  of  this  whole  period. 
The  episode  of  the  great  conflict  between  the  French 
and  the  Six  Nations  is  preliminary  to  this  and  of  givat 
interest  as  exhibiting  the  Indians  at  their  strongest 
and  best.  Children  of  the  sixth  grade  can  respond 
with  a  lively  interest  to  the  last  campaign  of  the  last 
French  and  Indian  War.  When  Pitt  finally  assumed 
control  and  Wolfe  and  Montcalm  enter  upon  that  en- 


History  in  the  Sixth   Grade.  87 

ergetic  contest,  we  have  an  exhibition  of  high  spirit 
and  enterprise  on  both  sides,  in  an  inevitable  contest 
whose  result  was  vital  to  the  whole  trend  of  our  later 
history. 

In  the  sixth  grade  we  should  be  able  to  begin  in 
an  effective  way  to  trace  the  causes  and  results  of  his- 
torical events,  to  discover  their  necessary  sequence. 
The  different  parties  and  forces  should  be  examined  in 
their  nature  and  tendencies.  The  geographical  and 
climatic  conditions,  the  race  characteristics,  and  the 
previous  disposition  and  history  of  the  different  peo- 
ples, should  be  measured  as  influences  leading  to  cer- 
tain results. 

Nothing  is  able  to  stir  up  more  enthusiasm  in  a 
class  and  to  throw  them  upon  the  exercise  of  their 
own  thinking  power  to  better  advantage  than  to  search 
out  and  reason  out  the  causes  of  important  events  and 
institutions.  By  limiting  our  study  to  a  few  of  the  salient 
topics  of  the  colonial  time,  it  is  possible  to  go  deeper 
into  causal  conditions.  An  event  can  be  examined  in 
its  many-sided  relations.  And  the  tracing  of  those 
relations  ties  up  the  related  facts  in  such  firm  associa- 
tion that  a  clear  understanding  and  a  retentive 
remembrance  are  assured.  As  topics  specially  worthy 
of  such  causal  study,  consider  King  Philip's  War,  the 
navigation  acts  of  England,  the  jealousies  between 
New  York  and  New  England,  the  attitude  of  the  Six 
Nations  toward  the  French,  Bacon's  rebellion,  and  the 
defeat  of  the  French  in  1760. 

Our  general  purpose  for  the  history  of  the  grades 


Special  Method. 

provides  that  any  important  epoch  shall  be  studied 
fully  but  once,  and  that  each  succeeding  year  shall  lead 
on  into  new  and  later  historical  fields.  Heretofore  the 
school  plan  for  history  has  been  to  review,  from  year 
to  year,  the  same  epochs  and  to  enlarge  upon  them 
and  enter  deeper  into  their  significance  in  the  higher 
grades.  We  are  opposed  to  the  concentric  circles  as 
applied  to  history  as  well  as  to  other  studies.  In  the 
sixth  grade  we  wish  to  do  our  duty  by  the  colonial 
period  so  that  these  children  will  not  need  to  return  a 
second  time  to  a  like  exhaustive  study  of  the  same 
topics.  By  way  of  comparison,  to  be  sure,  in  trac- 
ing back  causal  relations,  and  in  such  incidental  review. 
they  will  be  expected  to  return  again  and  again,  in 
later  grades,  to  these  familiar  fields  of  former  study. 
They  will  thus  get  new  light  and  sift  out  a  stronger 
meaning  from  old  events,  hut  the  main  work  of  each 
year  is  centered  upon  a  Inter  theme.  It  is  well  worth 
our  effort  to  try  to  select  historical  periods  which  chil- 
dren can  fairly  understand,  and  lead  them  on.  each 
ceeding  year,  into  a  new  field,  somewhat  more  com- 
plex, but  still  within  their  reasonable  grasp. 

In  history,  geographical  conditions  must  be  con 
stantly  studied.  Structure4,  climate,  productions,  and 
natural  advantages  have  a  much  stronger  inlln 
than  we  are  inclined  to  recognize.  Doth  teacher  and 
pupils  should  make  free  use  of  outline  sketches  in 
marking  out  campaigns,  disputed  territories,  the  plans 
of  cities  and  forts,  and  routes  of  communication.  Tin- 
geography  lessons  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  grades  will 


History  in  the  Sixth   Grade.  s<> 

aid  greatly  in  a  better  appreciation  of  historical  events 
both  in  Europe  and  America. 

Closely  related  to  the  history  of  the  colonies  are 
some  of  our  best  American  literary  products.  Evan- 
geline,  Miles  Standish,  the  orations  of  Everett  and 
Webster  at  Plymouth,  Hawthorne's  Gandfather's  Chair, 
Irving's  Sketch  Book,  and  Knickerbocker  History, 
Autobiography  of  Franklin,  Irving's  Life  of  Washing- 
ton, and  some  smaller  poems,  are  of  great  merit. 
The  history  will  not  deal  with  these  literary  materials, 
but  it  is  important  to  observe  how  close  is  the  relation 
between  the  study  of  history  and  the  best  literary 
products  suitable  for  reading  lessons  in  this  grade. 
Much  has  been  already  done  in  some  schools  toward 
introducing  our  own  classic  literature  into  school,  but 
it  should  be  accomplished  more  fully  and  system- 
atically. 

In  the  sixth  grade,  children  should  begin  to  ac- 
quire ability  in  using  JDOoks,  in  collecting  and  arrang- 
ing facts  on  a  given  topic.  Certain  books  can  be  put 
into  their  hands  to  be  studied  as  texts,  others  are 
rather  to  be  used  as  reference.  The  teacher,  in  as- 
signing the  lesson,  should  give  explicit  directions  as 
to  how  to  use  books  of  reference.  To  assign  histori- 
cal topics  without  definite  instruction  as  to  books  and 
parts  of  books,  'is  a  misus~e  of  children's  time.  It  is 
as  important  to  learn  how  to  use  books  as  it  is  tq  get 
their  contents.  The  discussion  of  previously  assigned 
topics  in  the  class  may  be  made  of  such  a  character  as 
to  bring  the  various  facts  and  judgments  into  relation. 


90  Special  Method. 

It  is  here  that  causal  relations  should  be  seen  and  the 
proper  sequence  worked  out,  the  relative  importance 
of  events  judged.  There  are  also  many  places  in 
the  sixth  grade  where  the  teacher,  from  a  fuller 
knowledge  and  a  riper  experience,  can  afford  to  pre- 
sent a  topic  in  clear  and  vivid  form,  with  a  re-state- 
ment of  it  from  the  children. 

We  are  justified  at  this  juncture  in  insisting  upon 
the  teacher's  deeper  knowledge  of  the  colonial  period. 
He  should  have  read  a  number  of  books  which  the 
children  could  not  be  expected  to  use.  The  large  his- 
tories should  be  in  part,  at  least,  familiar  to  him.  The 
biographies  of  the  Statesman's  series,  the  Common- 
wealth series  of  State  histories,  Parkman's  narratives 
of  the  French  regime,  John  Fiske's  books  on  Nr\v 
England,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  colonial  times,  are 
exceedingly  interesting  and  inspiring  to  a  teacher. 
They  cannot  all  be  read  at  once,  but  from  time  to  tinu\ 
and  in  leisure  hours,  these  intensely  interesting  books 
will  be  found  to  greatly  stimulate  a  teacher  without 
burdening  him.  The  knowledge  thus  acquired  ;• 
course  a  reserve  fund  to  be  drawn  upon,  here  and 
there,  as  occasion  may  require;  not  a  collective  mass 
of  learning  with  which  to  flood  the  children  and  waste 
their  time. 


History  in  the  Sixth  Grade.  !»1 


BOOKS  FOR  SIXTH  GRADE. 


The  Beginnings  of  New  England,  Fiske.  A  study 
of  the  Puritan  character.  Published  by  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co.  Price,  $2.00. 

From  Colony  to  Commonwealth,  Moore.  A  sequel 
to  Pilgrims  and  Puritans.  Ginn  &  Co. 

Ridpaths  Popular  History  of  the  U.  S.  The 
larger  volume  contains  interesting  accounts  of  colonial 
history.  Published  by  Jones  Brothers  &  Co. 

The  best  state  histories  are  of  much  value. 

The  Commonwealth  Series  of  state  histories  con- 
tain much  interesting  matter  to  select  from. 

Parkmaris  Wolfe  and  Montcalm.  Also,  Con- 
spiracy of  Pontiac.  Published  by  Little,  Brown  & 
Co. 

Epochs  of  American  History  —  The  Colonies, 
Thwaites.  A  good,  brief  history  with  full  lists  of 
reference.  Published  by  Longmans,  Green  &  Co., 
New  York. 

.Bancroft  and  Hildreth's  general  histories  may  be 
used  by  teachers  to  much  advantage. 


92  82)ecial  Method. 


HKSTORY  IN  THE  SEVENTH  GRADE. 


We  shall  attempt  only  a  brief  outline  of  the  work 
in  this  grade,  merely  suggesting  a  plan  to  follow. 
rather  than  giving  the  results  of  definite  work  with 
classes.  This  period  extends  from  the  close  of  the 
French  and  Indian  War  to  the  adoption  of  the  consti- 
tution. This  period  is  very  brief,  but  is  crowded 
with  great  events.  We  shall  have  to  select  a  few  typ- 
ical campaigns  of  the  Revolution,  and  enter  into  a  full 
narrative  of  the  events.  Smaller  events,  not  related 
directly  to  these,  would  be  better  omitted.  Topics: 

The  causes  leading  up  to  the  great  struggle. 

Events  about  Boston  till  the  evacuation. 

Retreat  of  Washington  through  New  York  and 
New  Jersey. 

Burgoyne's  invasion. 

Washington  at  Valley  For-.  . 

Corn  wallis' campaign  in  the  South  and  York  town. 

State  of  money  matters  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

Growing  hostility  between  the  states. 

The  Philadelphia  Convention. 

If  we  select  a  few  central  topics  and  then  gather 
the  fullest  ana  most  detailed  materials  upon  them,  we 
shall  have  more  fruitful  results  than  by  learning  all 
important  events. 


History  in  the  Seventh   Grade.  \r,\ 

For  example,  Burgoyne's  Invasion,  by  S.  A.  Drake, 
is  a  monograph  of  142  pages  on  this  one  campaign. 
Three  weeks  spent  upon  this,  that  is,  seven  or  eight 
lessons,  would  give  opportunity  to  really  study  this 
period.  The  war  would  become  a  reality.  The  pride 
and  high  hopes  of  the  British  in  setting  out,  the  rous- 
ing of  the  New  York  and  New  England  yeomanry,  the 
Indian  character  and  capacity  for  fighting,  the  splen- 
did victory  at  Bennington,  the  stratagems  on  the  Mo- 
hawk, the  great  struggle  at  Saratoga;  all  these,  elab- 
orated into  their  details  and  seen  in  their  mutual  rela- 
tions, will  give  a  much  deeper  insight  'into  the  spirit 
of  the  Americans,  the  hopes  of  the  British,  and  the 
desire  of  the  Indians,  than  can  be  secured  from  our 
outline  histories.  A  single  campaign,  elaborately 
studied,  is  worth  more,  both  for  patriotism  and  for 
knowledge,  than  a  dozen  campaigns  epitomized  and 
memorized. 

We  have  no  desire  to  emphasize  the  bloody  and 
destructive  work  of  war;  but  if  we  study  it  at  all,  let  us 
get  deep  impressions,  not  mere  scratches,  on  the  mem- 
ory. A  few  fundamental  ideas  brought  out  with  great 
distinctness  and  rooted  in  a  ground  work  of  well  organ- 
ized and  related  facts,  will  be  very  fruitful  to  a  child's 
thought  and  life.  The  tracing  of  causal  relations  is 
vital  to  every  lesson.  The  spirit,  incentive,  and  hardi- 
hood of  the  soldiery  should  be  appreciated.  Also  the 
qualities  of  the  leaders  in  camp  or  in  congress. 

The  biographies  of  at  least  two  of  the  greatest 
characters  should  be  studied  in  as  detailed  a  form  as 


94  Special   Method. 

possible,  Washington  and  Samuel  Adams  representing 
Virginia  and  Massachusetts. 

"  Washington  and  His  Country,"  by  Fiske-Irving, 
is  a  large  and  cheap  book  suited  to  seventh  grade. 
Hosmer's  Life  of  Adams,  in  the  Statesmen's  series, 
is  very  excellent,  especially  for  the  teacher. 

The  life  of  Washington  is  a  thread  upon  which 
most  of  the  great  events  of  this  epoch  can  be  spun. 

Much  excellent  literature  by  American  authors 
should  be  read  in  the  reading  lessons  parallel  to  the 
work  in  history.  Paul  Revere's  Ride,  The  Wash- 
ington Elm,  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  Warren's  Addr 
Webster's  Oration  at  Buirker  Hill,  The  Declaration  of 
Independence,  Supposed  Speech  of  John  Adams.  Cha- 
tham's and  Burke's  Speeches  on  tlu»  Ameru-an  War, 
The  Song  of  Marion's  Men. 


Eighth   Grade.  95 


EIGHTH  GRADE, 


x 

This  should  include  a  few  important  topics  in  our 
history  since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  In  en- 
tering upon  the  last  hundred  years  of  our  history  we 
meet  with  some  difficulties  that  are  well-nigh  insur- 
mountable. Some  of  the  most  important  topics  are 
still  unsolved  problems  and  we  must,  at  least,  avoid 
fruitless  controversies. 

We  suggest  the  following  topics  upon  which  to 
spend  the  greater  portion  of  the  time: 

History  of  political  parties. 

Growth  in  territory. 

Internal  improvement. 

History  and  growth  of  slavery. 

Great  inventions  and  inventors. 

Three  departments  of  our  government. 

Our  system  of  revenue. 

One  or  two  campaigns  of  the  Civil  War. 

Emigration. 

Civil  service  reform. 

The  biography  of  John  Quincy  Adams  strikes  us 
as  one  of  the  best  upon  which  to  spend  a  good  portion 
of  time. 


(.M)  Special  Method. 

BOOKS     FOR     SEVENTH     AND    EIGHTH 
GRADES. 


Washington  and  His    Country,    by   Fiske-Irving. 

It  is  an  abbreviation  of  Irving's  life  of  Washington  for 
the  use  of  schools.  618  pages.  Ginn  &  Co.  Price,  90 
cents. 

The  War  of  Independence,  by  Fiske. 

A  good    view  of   the  Revolution    for    hoys.     MOO    pa 
Published  by  Ilou«rhton,  Minim  \-  Co.     Price,  75  cents. 

The  Critical  Period  of  American  History,  by  Fiske. 

Very  valuable  for  tin-  period  between  Yorktown  am}  the 
adoption  of  the   constitution.      Honirhtnn.    Mitllin 
Price.  sM.OO. 
/>///v/oi////r's   I/tt'.rxion,  by  S.  A.  Drake. 

An  excellent  monograph.  Lee  \  shepanl.  Prioe.r.n  cmts. 
Epochs  of  American  History — Format i<m  <>ftln-  Union, 
by  Hart. 

Excellent  for  the  teacher,  with  full  lists  of  books  of 
reference.  Publish^!  by  Lnn.mnans.  (irr.-n  A  Co.,  of  N«'\\ 
York. 

History  of  l*t>Uti<>,rf  r<irtie$,    by  Dr.  J.  L.   Pickard. 

One  of  the    best    sinninar'n's    publish. •<!  of  tin-  history  of 
our  government,  with  an  rxcellont  politirul  chart.    Public-- 
School Publishing  Co.      Pric«-.  •.'."»  cents. 
Life  of  Samuel  Adams,  by  Hosmer. 
Statesman's  series. 
Epochs  of  Amerir.nt    ///s/o /•//—/>/>/*/"//   and  Reunion ^ 

by  Wilson. 

This  is  tlic  thin!  of  the  series,  and  coxcrs  t  he  period 
from  is-j'.i  to  HS'.i.  Full 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642-3405 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


LOAM  DEPT. 


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